Rolling Stone expressed deep regret for publishing an appalling article about the alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia (UVA), revealing there seemed to be discrepancies in the story. The explosive article was an exposé of an alleged brutal rape of a freshman student.
In a published statement posted online on Friday, Rolling Stone's managing editor Will Dana expressed his apologies over the UVA rape case discrepancies on their exposé. The Guardian reported the original article, published during national inquiry and a federal crackdown on the way colleges and universities handle sexual assaults on campus, was also met with uncertainty in parts of the media.
"In the face of new information, there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie's account, and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced," Dana wrote. "We were trying to be sensitive to the unfair shame and humiliation many women feel after a sexual assault and now regret the decision to not contact the alleged assaulters to get their account."
"We are taking this seriously and apologize to anyone who was affected by the story," Dana added.
While the discrepancies have not yet revealed, Rolling Stone's UVA rape exposé had been questioned by several media critics citing the reporting methods and underscoring the degree to which the magazine relied on a single source and the reporter failed to sought the men accused of the attack.
"Because of the sensitive nature of Jackie's story, we decided to honor her request not to contact the man she claimed orchestrated the attack on her nor any of the men she claimed participated in the attack for fear of retaliation against her," Dana explained the magazine's editorial decision not to reach out to the accused.
In line with Rolling Stone's acknowledgement of the discrepancies on their UVA rape article, The New York Times reported the fraternity in the exposé, Phi Kappa Psi released a statement on Friday denying the assault took place.
"Our initial doubts as to the accuracy of the article have only been strengthened as alumni and undergraduate members have delved deeper," the statement said.
The Rolling Stone article has tainted UVA's image and ensued outrage that prompted the university president, Teresa A. Sullivan to suspend all the school's fraternities until Jan. 9. In an NPR report, the university also apologized to the student who made the accusations.
Meanwhile, Sullivan released a statement acknowledging that the university is aware of the discrepancies on the Rolling Stone article. Nevertheless, the UVA president said sexual violence on college campuses remains a serious issue and she called for maintaining a commitment to end it.
Despite facing intense scrutiny over an article about an alleged gang rape on the UVA campus, Rolling Stone acknowledged the discrepancies and issued a formal apology for its exposé.
1/I can’t explain the discrepancies between Jackie’s account and the counter statements made by Phi Psi.
— Will Dana (@wdana) December 5, 2014
2/The fact that there is a story that appears in Rolling Stone in which I don’t have complete confidence is deeply unsettling to me. — Will Dana (@wdana) December 5, 2014
3/We made a judgment – the kind of judgement reporters and editors make every day. And in this case, our judgement was wrong.
— Will Dana (@wdana) December 5, 2014
4/ We should have either not made this agreement with Jackie… — Will Dana (@wdana) December 5, 2014
5/…or worked harder to convince her that the truth would have been better served by getting the other side of the story.
— Will Dana (@wdana) December 5, 2014
6/ That failure is on us – not on her. — Will Dana (@wdana) December 5, 2014
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