April 8, 2015

Following an outside review by Columbia Journalism School professors, Rolling Stone magazine has retracted Sabrina Rubin Erdely’s story “A Rape On Campus” after “major avoidable failures” were detected in the reporting.

The response to Rolling Stone’s decision to retract and apologize for the failure, but not fire Erdely, was widely criticized. I, however, agree with the publication’s decision. Although the blame largely lies with Erdely, I personally believe the failure of this narrative does not solely fall on her, but the entire staff above/below her.

“A Rape on Campus” was published last November as a story centering around one student’s account of the alleged gang rape that took place at a fraternity house at the University of Virginia. Soon after publication, the subject was under national speculation after several discrepancies were found. Even Erdely began to distrust her single source.

In an effort to uncover what went wrong, Rolling Stone called for an investigation into any lapses in reporting, editing and fact-checking behind the story. The report, an important, compelling analysis of journalism (which I encourage reading in full at cjr.org), highlighted – among other points – the narrative failing to be transparent with readers about (un)known facts, verifying facts and sources, following routine reporting practices and investing “reputation in a single source.”

In this thorough investigative report by Sheila Coronel, Steve Coll and Derek Kravitz, it is clear to me that the failures do not land on Erdely alone. If you fire her, you need to fire everyone involved.

This narrative developed into a flawed account of what may or may not have happened at the University of Virginia and it is, without a doubt, a failure in both reporting and editing. The sensitive subject led everyone involved to become too lenient in the basic rules of journalism, and this resulted in a lapse of judgment.

As a journalism student and lifestyle editor for the Royal Purple, I believe that the responsibility of individual reporting lies on the individual journalist, but not solely on them. Every editor and fact-checker involved had the chance to question something further, halt production or ask Erderly to pursue an angle.

Although Erdely failed in many instances with this story, I don’t believe it should result in her dismissal, as many advocate. There were just too many people who had a hand in its failure to do so.

Let this serve as a learning experience for Rolling Stone, and every other publication or journalistic endeavor for years to come.