This humble little blog, and our sister blog, sportsethics.com, do not pretend to be the editorial department of The New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. Nevertheless, we strive to give credit to other writers, exactly quote articles and to bring in experts who really are experts. Our roots are based in ethics and ethical behavior.
We are also not Rolling Stone magazine, and we’re thankful for that.
The story reaches back to a story that Rolling Stone wrote on an alleged gang rape of a young woman named “Jackie,” that took place at Psi Kappa Phi fraternity in the fall of 2012. The 9,000 word story went into great detail about what happened to the young woman – as told by the young woman – and it brought down the University of Virginia’s “Greek System.” There is only one small problem: the article is not true.
In a report by Linsey Davis and Ben Candea (December 8, 2014) entitled: “UVA Student in Rolling Stone Rape Story Reportedly Hires Attorney,” the author’s state:
“The fraternity also contested the article’s assertion that the alleged gang rape was part of a pledging task for prospective members. Psi Kappa Phi said that its pledging activities do not occur in the fall semester.
‘Moreover, no ritualized sexual assault is part of our pledging or initiation process,’ according to the statement. ‘This notion is vile, and we vehemently refute this claim.’”
To bring us back to when the story was written, Rolling Stone was determined to find a rape victim and to write a hard-hitting story about rape on campus. There can be no doubt this is a very serious subject.
However, Rolling Stone never did any due diligence. They never questioned the “seven men,” they never corroborated their facts and they never really checked the woman being interviewed.
According to a reporter for the Washington Post, T. Rees Shapiro, who did a follow-up interview with “Jackie” regarding her allegations we learn:
“Shapiro told ABC News that Jackie’s statements to him contradicted Rolling Stone’s reporting. ‘She said that maybe the party wasn’t at Phi [Kappa] Psi and then she told me that maybe the person that attacked her wasn’t a member of the fraternity at all,’ he said.”
The state of integrity
This entire case is extremely sad all of the way around. It is sad for the accused “seven men” and their fraternity. And yes, I am fully aware that rape is a heinous crime, but in this case the men and their fraternity had nothing to do with it. The woman is apparently hiring a lawyer because she apparently told the Rolling Stone a very different account of the incident. This could be a case where both the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrators could both sue.
The case is sad for other rape victims. Will they be ridiculed when they come forward with a truthful story? What will this do to victims, both female and male in the future? Will this sort of thing bring rape victims back to the 1950s when it was always the rape victim’s fault?
The case is sad for the University of Virginia, because their fraternity system has been demonized by writers with an agenda. And there’s the issue.
The magazine was looking for a story on campus rape. They found one. Whether it was true or false, it made no difference to them. From a journalistic point of view, they made every imaginable mistake to the point of it being completely unethical. They never checked sources, they never verified their story and they allowed themselves to get “close” to the victim all for the sake of their agenda.
I am afraid this kind of stuff happens more than we think. The media looks for flames where none exist, and if they have no luck finding a story, they apparently concoct one. As consumers of the news it is up to all of us to stop and listen.
When the news in our hometowns or on a state-wide or national basis make statements like: “According to sources,” or “some say,” it should immediately create doubt. All too often, the media has become about ratings and audience share and not about good journalism. When we suspend our good common sense, the media can say or do most anything that it wants to do.
Rolling Stone will now move on, and in its wake, it has ruined many lives.