The Rolling Stone fantasy piece about a gang rape at a fraternity party more than two years ago at the University of Virginia started to fall apart just over a week ago. When the article first appeared in the magazine as "news", it led to the go-to response by a liberal media and university administration: the horrors of gang rape were denounced and the fraternities on the U Va campus were ordered suspended. No one cared about the specifics of the story or even if the reporting was accurate; that was just assumed. Then some questions were raised about the journalistic practices used by the Rolling Stone reporter. That was followed by questions about the accuracy of what was claimed in the story based only upon what was said by the reporter. The fraternity which was slandered by the charges then released a statement which, among other things, pointed out that there was no party at the fraternity house on the date in question, there was no member of the fraternity who fit the description of the organizer of the attack (a lifeguard at a university pool), and many other problems with the report. Things got to the point that Rolling Stone retracted and apologized for the article. It seemed that things were about as bad as they could get. Well, they got worse. According to the Washington Post, interviews with various students whose actions and statements were discussed in the article have now revealed that the reporter never even tried to speak with them. In addition, the Post also says that some of these students deny the accuracy of what is attributed to them. These are not denials of minor details, but rather of the essence of the story. Indeed, the Post reporting calls into question the veracity of the editors of Rolling Stone with regard to what they said in their apology for the story. The Post makes it sound like Rolling Stone lied in its apology for printing a phony story in the first place.
The issue to me, however, is not just the failure of the reporter and staff at Rolling Stone. Nor is the issue the effect that this fiasco will have on the struggle against rape culture at U VA as many have claimed. The real issue is how the people who have been falsely accused get their reputations and rights back?
While we are on the story of false rape claims, there is also the issue of Lena Dunham's new book in which accuses a fellow student of raping her while they were in college. Dunham names the first name of the perpetrator and gives details about him which supposedly makes clear exactly who she is accusing of rape. The only problem is that this guy says he never met Dunham and the details of the story make it seem pretty clear that the story is not accurate. The guy in question contacted Dunham to ask that she make clear that he is not the supposed rapist she mentions in the book, but she has not done so. Meanwhile, his friends and business acquaintances understand that he is the one she is accusing of rape. According to press reports, Dunham is about to be sued for defamation.
Rape is a terrible thing that cannot be condoned. Nevertheless, false allegations of rape are also a terrible thing that cannot be condoned. No amount of celebrity or "victimhood" gives anyone the right to level false charges.
The issue to me, however, is not just the failure of the reporter and staff at Rolling Stone. Nor is the issue the effect that this fiasco will have on the struggle against rape culture at U VA as many have claimed. The real issue is how the people who have been falsely accused get their reputations and rights back?
While we are on the story of false rape claims, there is also the issue of Lena Dunham's new book in which accuses a fellow student of raping her while they were in college. Dunham names the first name of the perpetrator and gives details about him which supposedly makes clear exactly who she is accusing of rape. The only problem is that this guy says he never met Dunham and the details of the story make it seem pretty clear that the story is not accurate. The guy in question contacted Dunham to ask that she make clear that he is not the supposed rapist she mentions in the book, but she has not done so. Meanwhile, his friends and business acquaintances understand that he is the one she is accusing of rape. According to press reports, Dunham is about to be sued for defamation.
Rape is a terrible thing that cannot be condoned. Nevertheless, false allegations of rape are also a terrible thing that cannot be condoned. No amount of celebrity or "victimhood" gives anyone the right to level false charges.
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