One of the nation’s most recognizable pop culture magazines continues to real from one of the largest media scandals in decades.
One of the nation’s most recognizable pop culture magazines continues to real from one of the largest media scandals in decades.
Just about a year ago, Rolling Stone published the now infamous “A Rape On Campus” story which followed the supposed gang rape of a student at a frat party on UVA’s campus. The story ignited a broad discussion the safety for women in colleges as well as the concept of consent between adults.
But people also wondered about its accuracy and by April of this year, RS retracted the story. The Poynter Institute called it the “Error of the Year” saying “Campus rape is a serious issue and deserves attention, but Rolling Stone and its reporter cherry picked this story and failed to properly verify it.”
This lack of confirmation is going to be costly for the already struggling publication. One of the suits, totaling $25 million, was filed by the frat house where the rape was supposed to have taken place – UVA’s Phi Kappa Psi. Nicole Eramo, an associate dean at UVA, has filed a $7.5 million suit saying the story printed lies and defamatory statements “in order to present a preconceived storyline.” And in July, three separate members of Phi Kappa Psi filed an additional law suit.
While no one was fired at Rolling Stone after the story was published, Managing Editor Will Dana left the job a few months later, and the editor of Men’s Journal, Jason Fine, took his place.
You can find a detailed breakdown of the UVA story via NY Mag.
“Alderman Library” by Vtn5n – Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alderman_Library.JPG#/media/File:Alderman_Library.JPG
