It’s been almost a year since Rolling Stone published their now debunked, retracted, and heavily criticized piece by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, “A Rape on Campus.” The piece claimed that “Jackie,” a freshman, was brutally gang-raped by seven men who were part of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at the University of Virginia.
No evidence suggests that the rape took place, but the lives of these seven men have been forever changed. In April the Columbia School of Journalism released discrepancies about the piece and the fraternity vowed legal action.
Mediaite reported on Monday that the fraternity filed a $25 million lawsuit against Rolling Stone.
Also mentioned was a statement released:
The complaint was filed with the Virginia state court, and seeks “redress for the wanton destruction caused to Phi Kappa Psi by Rolling Stone’s intentional, reckless, and unethical behavior.”
This is only the latest lawsuit Rolling Stone has been slapped with. Nicole Eramo, dean at UVA, had also filed a $7.5 million lawsuit against the magazine in May. And, in July three fraternity members sued for damages of $75,000 with regards to the “devastating effect” the piece had on their reputations.
The story had not been retracted until April, and by then the damage was certainly done. In addition to the review from the Columbia School of Journalism, the Charlottesville Police Department also found no evidence of the rape occurring.
The concern is not merely for the members of the fraternity and the administrators of the University of Virginia. After such stories are published about alleged rape victims, and turn out to be false, the situation may be worse for actual rape victims, especially when there is already a fear and stigma attached with reporting the crime.
Should Rolling Stone be out $25 million, and then some, it will hopefully be a lesson learned and cause journalists and their editors to think twice about the stories they deem fit to write and publish.
