Rolling Stone magazine acknowledged on Friday that it now had questions about an article it published that made startling and detailed allegations of a gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity. The magazine said that its trust in the sole source for the story, Jackie, the woman making the allegations, was misplaced.
The magazine's managing editor, Will Dana, wrote that there appear to be 'discrepancies' in the description of the brutal gang rape in the article, 'A Rape on Campus' by Sabrina Rubin Erdely.
In the face of new information, Mr. Dana wrote, 'we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced.'
Mr. Dana said that the magazine did not seek to contact any of the individuals whom Jackie, who was identified only by her first name, accused of a 2012 rape.
'We were trying to be sensitive to the unfair shame and humiliation many women feel after a sexual assault,' he said, '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.'
Ms. Erdely did not return messages seeking comment Friday. In an interview earlier this week, after questions were raised about the Nov. 19 article, she stood by her reporting. 'I am convinced that it could not have been done any other way, or any better,' she said, and suggested that the debate about the veracity of the article stood only to divert attention from the real scandal - a crime that had not been sufficiently investigated.
The report of the discrepancies first appeared on the Washington Post website.
Entities 0 Name: Jackie Count: 2 1 Name: Dana Count: 2 2 Name: Sabrina Rubin Erdely Count: 1 3 Name: Washington Post Count: 1 4 Name: University of Virginia Count: 1 5 Name: Erdely Count: 1 6 Name: Will Dana Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1tS6JZc Title: We Must Scrutinize the UVA Rape Story Description: The story was so appalling, the attack so brutish and morally offensive, that it provoked an immediate, furious response. The university faculty banded together to sign letters demanding action; Charlottesville's archipelago of off-campus fraternity houses would be scuppered for the rest of the semester, perhaps longer; the national and international media turned their focus towards the University of Virginia (UVA), for precisely the wrong reasons.
