The whole UVA “I was gang-raped at a frat party” story in The Rolling Stone is raising some troubling questions.
Could it be a hoax? Magic 8 ball sez signs point to yes
Last week, writer Richard Bradley published an essay essentially applying the criteria of dissimilarity and embarrassment to the by-now world-famous Rolling Stone story about a gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity. Bradley, who as editor of George was duped by serial fabricator Stephen Glass, says the lesson he took away from that experience is that “one must be most critical, in the best sense of that word, about what one is already inclined to believe.” In other words, if a story plays to rather than challenges your biases, you should subject it to tougher scrutiny. It has become a truism that campus rape has reached epidemic levels. The issue is given unflagging attention in the news, by the White House, and even by Congress. Because the story so soundly affirms the prevailing assumptions of our time, writes Bradley, he’s inclined to doubt it.
Should he? This morning Reason’s Robby Soave went further, asking whether the entire story is a “gigantic hoax,” like the infamous Duke case. Bradley and Soave home in on some clear deviations from journalistic norms evident in the Rolling Stone article. First, the saga of the extraordinarily violent gang rape, described in excruciating detail in the first ten paragraphs of the piece, relies wholly on the testimony of one woman, identified only as Jackie in the piece. (It is her real first name.) Second, the reporter, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, allowed herself to be bound by a vow she made to Jackie not to contact the alleged rapists, especially the pseudonymous Drew, said to have lured her into the room where seven men raped her. Erdely may not even have tried to identify them. According to a Washington Post profile of Erdely published this weekend, “She won’t say, for example, whether she knows the names of Jackie’s alleged attackers or whether in her reporting she approached ‘Drew,’ the alleged ringleader, for comment. She is bound to silence about those details, she said, by an agreement with Jackie, who ‘is very fearful of these men, in particular Drew.’” During an interview on Slate’s DoubleX podcast this weekend, Atlantic staff writer Hanna Rosin tried to press Erdely on whether she knew who the boys were or ever tried to contact them, but Erdely evaded the question. On Monday evening, The Washington Post published a follow-up piece confirming Erdely’s failure even to try to talk to the accused; it observed, “News organizations typically seek comment from those accused of criminal acts or from their attorneys as a matter of fairness and balance, as well as to confirm that the individuals exist.”
There seems to be a theme to today’s posts….
Funny how when the public is subjected to ever more numerous “fake but accurate” stories designed to advance a narrative, it ceases to take such allegations seriously, thereby leading to the condition where victims are disbelieved. Let me suggest, if you want victims to be believed, don’t prop up exaggerated/fabricated stories because the wind happens to be blowing in a certain direction.
I’m concerned about all this campus rape
just kidding
Busy rapists should rest up with Robert Schumann, maybe catch their breath.
Hey y’all. i knew this was fake when she said seven frat brothers raped her in an iniation. Everyone who was in a fraternity knows the rapes are always done in teams of five.
But hey, y’know, Zemir Begic’s head just looked like a nail.
The hammer murder of a white man is just what he deserved, sdferr.
I mean, after all, he’s new here, he doesn’t know how you should move the fuck out of these areas. That’s on him really. He should have instantly understood how what everyone is saying is self-serving and nonsense.
Has the hammer murder been voxsplained yet?
Btw, ‘feets, don’t be a fucking moron yourself.
>I’m concerned about all this campus rape<
by the fed gov't? hi fed gov't clown "loans"
i don’t understand
campus rape is a serious issue for
certain people
i’m more concerned with
oh right now before I forget I’m a put a measuring thing in my backpack
i bought a teapot today from adagio
cause of i’m exploring the fabulous world of fancy loose-leaf
but I couldn’t measure my tea properly – but tomorrow is a new day
i got pu erh hazleberry cause of it helps you get skinny – it’s very earthy in the same way as yerba mate
also i got an oolong called coconut pouchong, which is super tasty and smooth as a silky silky pouchong
then lastly i got a mocha mate I didn’t try yet
so anyway yup campus rape
it’s like a thing or something
*hazelberry*
I’m fairly certain that you’re a rape denialist at this point.
Very flippant.
campus rape denialist if you please
Good times.
meanwhile in Kenya, al-Shaabab has singled out another tranche of close to 40 Kenyan Christians, lined them up on the ground, shot them in the back of their heads and then mutilated their corpses. But unlike the non-relational Trayvon, they wouldn’t have been ClownDisaster’s daddy if he’d had a daddy, would they? So no particular attention need be paid.
Nothing Illuminated to see here…move along.
“ClownDisaster’s daddy” would more likely have been in with al-Shaabab having been Mau-Mau and so interested in killing Christians then.
I am really worried that one of my kids may get involved with one of those college girls who pickup their friend after she’s been severely beaten and gang raped by people they all know, but ask her to be quiet about it so that next Thirsty Thursday they may get their chance.
the mocha nut mate is a surly little brew, with the straw-notes of the mate almost instantly squelching the hints of mocha before one has any chance at all to savor them
this is almost certainly a metaphor for campus rape i think
Another ‘RAPE!!!’ story falls apart, it seems:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2014/12/03/investigation-lena-dunhams-republican-rapist-story-falls-apart-under-scrutiny
See, this is why I’m not reading to throw Bill Cosby under the bus.
This and Gloria Allred.