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Columbia Journalism School To Review Debunked Rolling Stone Article

Chuck Ross Investigative Reporter
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Rolling Stone has asked the Columbia Journalism School to conduct an independent investigation of a now-debunked article the magazine published last month about the alleged gang-rape of a University of Virginia student.

According to Rolling Stone editor and publisher Jann Wenner, Columbia Dean Steve Coll and Dean of Academic Affairs Sheila Coronel will review the article “A Rape on Campus,” which was written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely.

Wenner said in a statement:

In RS 1223, Sabrina Rubin Erdely wrote about a brutal gang rape of a young woman named Jackie at a party in a University of Virginia frat house [“A Rape on Campus”]. Upon its publication, the article generated worldwide attention and praise for shining a light on the way the University of Virginia and many other colleges and universities across the nation have tried to sweep the issue of sexual assault on campus under the rug. Then, two weeks later, The Washington Post and other news outlets began to question Jackie’s account of the evening and the accuracy of Erdely’s reporting. Immediately, we posted a note on our website, disclosing the concerns. We have asked the Columbia Journalism School to conduct an independent review – headed by Dean Steve Coll and Dean of Academic Affairs Sheila Coronel – of the editorial process that led to the publication of this story. As soon as they are finished, we will publish their report.

About a week after the article’s Nov. 19 publication, numerous holes emerged in the article, including not just Erdely’s reporting but also the claims made by the UVA student, named Jackie.

It came to light that not only did Jackie change her story dramatically since Sept. 28, 2012 — the night she says she was gang-raped by seven fraternity members — but that Erdely had not even attempted to contact any of the men Jackie accused of attacking her, an apparent breach of journalistic ethics. Erdely also did not contact three of Jackie’s friends the student said met with her after the alleged attack.

Those three friends have since been interviewed by numerous outlet and say that Jackie’s story the night of the alleged incident was drastically different than what was printed in Rolling Stone.

Jackie also appears to have been involved in a so-called “catfishing” scheme prior to the attack. Evidence strongly suggests that she fabricated a man she claimed she was going on a date with the night of the attack. She also likely created fake phone numbers and pretended to be that man in conversations with her three friends.

Though Wenner contends in his note that Rolling Stone responded immediately to concerns raised about the article, it was not until Dec. 5 — more than two weeks after the article was published — that Rolling Stone managing editor Will Dana published a note to readers admitting that the article was flawed. Before that, Erdely and another editor, Sean Woods, had stood by the story as questions over Erdely’s reporting were first being asked.

“In the face of new information reported by the Washington Post and other news outlets, there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie’s account,” Dana wrote in the note, while remaining largely tight-lipped about what inconsistencies were found and about how the magazine planned to address the flawed 9,000-word piece.

Erdely’s article was initially touted for exposing what many feminists and activists believe is an epidemic of campus rape. The article moved UVA president Teresa Sullivan to close down all Greek-life activities on campus during an investigation. The house of the fraternity accused in the article — Phi Kappa Psi — was also vandalized.

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