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Rolling Stone to pay $1.65M to settle suit over rape story

<p>Rolling Stone magazine has spent the last four months being pilloried for its story about a brutal gang rape at a University of Virginia frat house. The backlash culminated Sunday with a report from the Columbia School of Journalism detailing Rolling Stone's failures in reporting the story and an apology from the story's author. </p><p>The <a href="http://article.cjr.org/investigation/rolling_stone_investigation.php?utm_content=buffer6e980&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer" target="_blank">Columbia report</a> says, <strong>"The failure encompassed reporting, editing, editorial supervision and fact-checking. The magazine set aside or rationalized as unnecessary essential practices of reporting that, if pursued, would likely have led the magazine's editors to reconsider publishing Jackie's narrative so prominently, if at all."</strong></p><p><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/a-rape-on-campus-20141119" target="_blank">The Rolling Stone story</a>, titled "A Rape on Campus," recounted a vicious assault against a UVA student dubbed Jackie and her difficulties in getting the school to investigate the attack. </p><p>After the article was published, the UVA fraternity was suspended and police opened an investigation into the alleged sexual assault. (Video via <a href="http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/local/2014/11/20/va-gov-terry-mcauliffe-responds-to-rolling-stone-uva-sex-assault-allegations/70010744/" target="_blank">WUSA</a>)</p><p>But in the following weeks, other outlets, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/u-va-fraternity-to-rebut-claims-of-gang-rape-in-rolling-stone/2014/12/05/5fa5f7d2-7c91-11e4-84d4-7c896b90abdc_story.html" target="_blank">like The Washington Post</a>, found inconsistencies and errors that undermined key parts of the story. </p><p>Post writer T. Rees Shapiro <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n_0FHYtOE8" target="_blank">told MSNBC</a>, <strong>"Certain details that were reported so far appear to be inconsistent, such as the date of September 28, 2012. The fraternity has said there was no party that night."</strong></p><p>Local police later said their investigation found no evidence to support Jackie's account. (Video via <a href="http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/local/2015/03/23/university-of-virginia-alleged-gang-rape-findings-to-be-released/25211741/" target="_blank">WUSA</a>)</p><p>Rolling Stone later admitted that the story's author, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, had agreed to Jackie's request not to contact any of the men supposedly involved in the attack. Jackie said she feared retaliation. (Video via <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKb-SYXTmik" target="_blank">PBS Newshour</a>)</p><p>Journalists have since torn that decision apart, saying Erdely didn't do enough to verify the story and Rolling Stone's editors shouldn't have agreed not to contact the men. </p><p>In a statement released Sunday, <a href="https://twitter.com/ravisomaiya/status/584862956195807232" target="_blank">Erdely agreed with the critics</a>, saying, <strong>"Reading the Columbia account of the mistakes and misjudgments in my reporting was a brutal and humbling experience. I want to offer my deepest apologies. ... These are mistakes I will not make again."</strong></p><p>But Erdely will continue to write for Rolling Stone. In fact, the magazine says it won't punish any of its staff members involved in the story, saying there was no evidence they were deliberately deceptive. </p><p>The full report can be found on the Rolling Stone and Columbia Journalism Review websites. A press conference discussing the findings is scheduled for Monday. </p><p><em>This video includes images from Getty Images.</em></p>
<p>Rolling Stone magazine has spent the last four months being pilloried for its story about a brutal gang rape at a University of Virginia frat house. The backlash culminated Sunday with a report from the Columbia School of Journalism detailing Rolling Stone's failures in reporting the story and an apology from the story's author. </p><p>The <a href="http://article.cjr.org/investigation/rolling_stone_investigation.php?utm_content=buffer6e980&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer" target="_blank">Columbia report</a> says, <strong>"The failure encompassed reporting, editing, editorial supervision and fact-checking. The magazine set aside or rationalized as unnecessary essential practices of reporting that, if pursued, would likely have led the magazine's editors to reconsider publishing Jackie's narrative so prominently, if at all."</strong></p><p><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/a-rape-on-campus-20141119" target="_blank">The Rolling Stone story</a>, titled "A Rape on Campus," recounted a vicious assault against a UVA student dubbed Jackie and her difficulties in getting the school to investigate the attack. </p><p>After the article was published, the UVA fraternity was suspended and police opened an investigation into the alleged sexual assault. (Video via <a href="http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/local/2014/11/20/va-gov-terry-mcauliffe-responds-to-rolling-stone-uva-sex-assault-allegations/70010744/" target="_blank">WUSA</a>)</p><p>But in the following weeks, other outlets, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/u-va-fraternity-to-rebut-claims-of-gang-rape-in-rolling-stone/2014/12/05/5fa5f7d2-7c91-11e4-84d4-7c896b90abdc_story.html" target="_blank">like The Washington Post</a>, found inconsistencies and errors that undermined key parts of the story. </p><p>Post writer T. Rees Shapiro <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n_0FHYtOE8" target="_blank">told MSNBC</a>, <strong>"Certain details that were reported so far appear to be inconsistent, such as the date of September 28, 2012. The fraternity has said there was no party that night."</strong></p><p>Local police later said their investigation found no evidence to support Jackie's account. (Video via <a href="http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/local/2015/03/23/university-of-virginia-alleged-gang-rape-findings-to-be-released/25211741/" target="_blank">WUSA</a>)</p><p>Rolling Stone later admitted that the story's author, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, had agreed to Jackie's request not to contact any of the men supposedly involved in the attack. Jackie said she feared retaliation. (Video via <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKb-SYXTmik" target="_blank">PBS Newshour</a>)</p><p>Journalists have since torn that decision apart, saying Erdely didn't do enough to verify the story and Rolling Stone's editors shouldn't have agreed not to contact the men. </p><p>In a statement released Sunday, <a href="https://twitter.com/ravisomaiya/status/584862956195807232" target="_blank">Erdely agreed with the critics</a>, saying, <strong>"Reading the Columbia account of the mistakes and misjudgments in my reporting was a brutal and humbling experience. I want to offer my deepest apologies. ... These are mistakes I will not make again."</strong></p><p>But Erdely will continue to write for Rolling Stone. In fact, the magazine says it won't punish any of its staff members involved in the story, saying there was no evidence they were deliberately deceptive. </p><p>The full report can be found on the Rolling Stone and Columbia Journalism Review websites. A press conference discussing the findings is scheduled for Monday. </p><p><em>This video includes images from Getty Images.</em></p>
Posted

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Rolling Stone agreed to pay $1.65 million to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by a University of Virginia fraternity over a debunked story about a rape on campus, the fraternity said Tuesday.

The settlement closes the final chapter of a lengthy legal saga sparked by the 2014 story "A Rape on Campus," which was retracted after a police investigation found no evidence to back up the harrowing account of the woman identified in the story only as "Jackie."

The Virginia Alpha Chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, which had sought $25 million, said in a statement that its members are glad to be able to put the "ordeal" behind them.

"It has been nearly three years since we, and the entire University of Virginia community, were shocked by the now infamous article, and we are pleased to be able to close the book on that trying ordeal and its aftermath," the fraternity said.

Rolling Stone declined to comment.

The story by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, of Philadelphia, about Jackie's gang rape set off a firestorm at the University of Virginia and in schools nationwide and prompted police to launch an investigation into the alleged assault. The article crumbled after other news outlets began asking questions and police found no evidence to back up Jackie's claims. The story was officially retracted in April 2015.

The fraternity's case had been scheduled to go to trial in October. The fraternity said it plans to donate "a significant portion" of the settlement to groups that provide sexual assault awareness education, prevention training and victim counseling services.

The fraternity claimed that the magazine knew that Jackie was not a reliable source and ignored red flags indicating that her story was flawed. The reporter did not verify the existence of the alleged ringleader of Jackie's attack or contact others who could have debunked the story.

"Rolling Stone and Erdely had an agenda, and they were recklessly oblivious to the harm they would cause innocent victims in their ruthless pursuit of that agenda," the fraternity's lawsuit said.

Rolling Stone earlier this year settled another defamation lawsuit filed by university administrator Nicole Eramo after a jury awarded her $3 million. Lawyers did not provide the settlement dollar amount in that case.

A federal judge in New York last year threw out another lawsuit over the story filed by three former fraternity members.

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