Rolling Stone Magazine Clarifies Apology Over UVA Rape Story
Rolling Stone Magazine is clarifying its apology over a story that had reported a female student was gang-raped at a University of Virginia fraternity.
Jessica Kartalija explains they're telling readers the mistakes were the magazine's fault, not the alleged victim's.
UVA took immediate action after the article was published last month and suspended all Greek life into early next year. Now groups are urging the university to end that suspension and apologize.
In a statement to CBS This Morning, three national organizations representing fraternities and sororities said, "The school's decision to suspend hurt the reputation of thousands of outstanding student leaders" and continued UVA should "immediately reinstate organizations for all fraternity and sorority organizations on campus" and "issue an apology for its actions."
Last month, UVA's president suspended all Greek-related activities following the Rolling Stone article detailing an alleged gang rape of a female student nicknamed "Jackie" at a campus fraternity party. Following the report, UVA and campus Greek life have been heavily criticized.
"As the fraternity community is concerned, we are committed to remaining leaders in the long-term campaign for change," said Tommy Reid, UVA IFC President.
Discrepancies in the story soon surfaced and Rolling Stone issued a retraction on Friday saying, "...our trust in [Jackie] was misplaced." A day later, the magazine revised the retraction, shifting the blame from Jackie to the magazine. "We were mistaken in honoring Jackie's request to not contact the alleged assaulters to get their account...these mistakes are on Rolling Stone, not on Jackie."
"If you talk to journalism experts, they say these stories are very hard to cover. They're very emotive. Their emotional valence is very high. And it's especially incumbent on you as a journalistic organization in those circumstances to do even more due diligence," said New York Times reporter Ravi Somaiya.
While Rolling Stone and university officials continue to investigate, students remain committed to the victim's story.
"I think UVA still has an opportunity to get it right," said student Sandra Menendez. "We absolutely need to stand with Jackie."
The organizations representing fraternities and sororities are also lobbying Congress for change. They believe campus judicial boards lack the skills and resources to handle crime involving bodily harm and should instead by handled primarily by the criminal justice system.
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