It was Nov. 19, 2014, when the world first learned about “Jackie,” a young woman who claimed in the pages of Rolling Stone that she had been gang-raped as part of a fraternity initiation.

While many began questioning — whether publicly or privately — the validity of her story almost immediately, Rolling Stone and the author, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, stuck by their story and their main source. Those who asked whether Erdely had contacted the accused ringleader of the gang-rape were met with hostility and smugness from the author and her editors.