Rolling Stone apologizes for University of Virginia rape story

Rolling Stone's managing editor apologized
Friday for a story the magazine published last
month describing a gang rape at a University
of Virginia fraternity house, saying its trust in
the alleged victim "was misplaced."

Managing editor Will Dana said in a post on
the magazine's website that "there now
appear to be discrepancies" in the account of
the rape provided by a woman named Jackie.
Dana said only that those discrepancies
became apparent "in the face of new
information." He does not detail that
information.
"We are taking this seriously and apologize to
anyone who was affected by the story," Dana
said.
The lengthy article put a spotlight on the issue
of sexual assault on college campuses in the
U.S. and detailed what it called a hidden
culture of sexual violence at U.Va.
The statement said that because of the
sensitive nature of Jackie's story, Rolling Stone
decided to honor her request not to contact
the men she claimed organized and
participated in the attack. That prompted
criticism from other news organizations.
"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," Dana said.
University President Teresa Sullivan has asked
Charlottesville police to investigate the
reported gang rape at the Phi Kappa Psi
house. The fraternity has surrendered its
fraternal agreement with the school and
suspended all chapter activities.
"Our purpose is to find the truth in any
matter and that's what we are looking for
here," the police department said in an
emailed statement Friday. "These articles do
not change our focus moving forward."
The school also had suspended activities at all
campus fraternal organizations because of the
story.
The fraternity issued its own statement
refuting the woman's account, which detailed
a Sept. 28, 2012 party at the Phi Kappa Psi
house. The woman said she was led upstairs
by her date, who then orchestrated her gang-
rape by seven men. The woman said her date
worked at the U.Va. pool, and she quit her
job as a lifeguard so she wouldn't have to see
him after the alleged rape.
However, the fraternity said in its statement a
2012 list of employees at the Aquatic and
Fitness Center did not list any of its members
as a lifeguard. It also said it had determined
none of its members worked there in any
capacity at the time.
The fraternity also said it had no social event
during the weekend when the woman said the
rape took place.