Rolling Stone error means college rape victims have to fight “Jackie” stereotype too
Ending this week of blogging on the same theme I began the week: Let’s not get distracted from the fact that sexual assault is a very real deal on college campuses.
In my blog post Monday, criticizing Heather Mac Donald’s Points piece as disingenuous and unhelpful, I made a conscious decision to steer clear of the recent Rolling Stone article that told a gripping tale of an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia. Even on Monday, cracks in that story were emerging.
Today the story has busted wide open. The magazine is apologizing after acknowledging discrepancies in the article, and the lawyer for the fraternity at the center of the Rolling Stone story, Phi Kappa Psi, has released a response.
The original story, published Nov. 19, was a horrific, detailed account of a supposed gang-rape during a party at the frat house in 2012. This was the basis for charges that sexual assaults at the school are not investigated. Police and the school have definitely been investigating the story of “Jackie,” who was not IDed further by the magazine.
I can’t fathom that Rolling Stone made a decision that, out of consideration for Jackie, the writer would skip over that most important part of any reporting — trying to get the other side of the story.
As journalists, we can never let any subject — or the most sympathetic of characters — keep us from getting comment from the other side. Rolling Stone claims that months of reporting and interviews turned up no doubts about Jackie’s story, but apparently the investigation missed some folks — the woman’s close friends and campus sex assault awareness advocates are expressing doubts.
My point in this blog in not just to beat up on Rolling Stone; they are already in a world of hurt, and deservedly so. It’s a good reminder to us all never to cut corners.
But the real damage here is to the many women who are victims of assault or rape on college campuses. This Huffington Post investigation, complete with supporting documents and interviews with all sides, makes the problem pretty clear.
It’s too bad that Rolling Stone made such a huge error in judgment — young women already face terribly difficult-to-overcome hurdles when it comes to reporting rape. Now, in the court of public opinion, they have “Jackie” to overcome as well.