A while back I linked to Rolling Stone’s horrifying account of rape culture and administration inaction on the University of Virginia campus.
It turns out there are significant chunks of the story that can’t be verified or have been contradicted by people involved, as the magazine admitted, then admitted again. Apparently they made no attempt to fact-check the account and have attempted to imply it’s because they trusted the woman who was the centerpiece of the article. As Feministing says, that’s not a matter of trust, it’s a matter of basic journalism. LGM adds some links dissecting the mess.
This is bad because it’s bad, sloppy journalism. And also because it feeds the belief that rape claims are made up, you can’t trust victims, etc. Which is simply not true: despite this screw-up, almost all “alleged” rape victims are indeed victims. Not that this will affect the hard-core misogynists and rape apologists, but people who are more moderate may find themselves thinking “Well, maybe they have a point …”
So appalling all round.
