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    XyzzyAnna Merlan
    12/05/14 2:04pm

    We are taking this seriously and apologize to anyone who was affected by the story.

    Nice minimization of the damage. How about apologize to every single rape victim ever for raising the height of the mountain she'll have to climb to convince people to take her accusations seriously.

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      TyrannosaurusBataarXyzzy
      12/05/14 2:10pm

      Seriously. I was "affected." In that between the UVA story and Jez's interview with the other survivor from UVA, I ended up having a borderline panic attack/breaking down into sobbing bringing back memories of my own sexual trauma because it resonated with me so much.

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      SugarHilXyzzy
      12/05/14 2:14pm

      Exactly. Yet for every comment like yours there are going to be a dozen that say "how about apologize to the brothers in the frat who were painted rapists" without ever acknowledging how this will affect survivors in the future. Atrocious.

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    ILikeThunderstormsAnna Merlan
    12/05/14 1:55pm

    This fucking sucks. This means that for the next, like, year at least, every article or expose or even individual account from a rape victim will be met with: "But that other girl lied about part of her story, so YOU ARE ALSO OBVIOUSLY LYING! FALSE ACCUSATIONS ARE SO MUCH WORSE THAN RAPE, BLAH BLAH RECENCY BIAS BLAH!"

    Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh. One more shitty topping on the shit-and-vomit pizza that has been the first week of December, 2014.

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      Whale BiologistILikeThunderstorms
      12/05/14 1:57pm

      A year is extremely optimistic. I still hear the Duke Lacrosse case come up regularly. I doubt we're ever going to hear the end of this one.

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      ILikeThunderstormsWhale Biologist
      12/05/14 1:59pm

      You're probably right. 200 years from now Futuristic Dudebros will still be like, "You say you were raped, but in 2014 that girl wasn't entirely truthful, remember? MY GENDER STILL SUFFERS!"

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    ihatepickingnamesAnna Merlan
    12/05/14 1:56pm

    It's still true that very, very few rape accusations are false. It's still true that UVA's system for dealing with rape accusations is fucking atrocious.

    It's also still true that this revelation is going to make it far more difficult in the future for reports to be taken seriously.

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      YeOleBuckihatepickingnames
      12/05/14 1:59pm

      This is quite right.

      By the way, partially retracts my ass. The sensational part of the piece.. the one that drew all of the attention... is bullshit.

      Oh, and for victim advocates that tell victims not to report the crime? Fuck off. If my daughters were raped, not only would I want their attackers named and tried in a court of law, I'd want them publicly hanged upon conviction.

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      Rhetorical Impulseihatepickingnames
      12/05/14 2:02pm

      Even though in this case she never actually accused anyone specifically by name, it's still going to be held up as "WOMEN LOVE TO RUIN MEN'S LIVES BY CRYING RAPE."

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    Ari Schwartz: Dark Lord of the SnarkAnna Merlan
    12/05/14 2:22pm

    It's easy to look at famous investigative journalist success stories and say, "See? It pans out!" But it often turns out that sources or subjects aren't clear, don't pan out, or turn out to be false leads. It happens.

    I don't really damn Rolling Stone here because sometimes you have to follow a hunch. Sometimes it doesn't pan out. It's going to be fuel for the idiot MRA fire, but I'm still glad they followed the story. Imagine how easily Watergate could've turned out false given that it was literally ONE source. It happens. It doesn't change how often women are sexually assaulted. It changes ONE instance among many.

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      homegrowntalentAri Schwartz: Dark Lord of the Snark
      12/05/14 2:33pm

      You are the problem.

      "I don't really damn Rolling Stone here"

      Full stop. You've outed yourself as an idiot.

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      Ari Schwartz: Dark Lord of the Snarkhomegrowntalent
      12/05/14 2:40pm

      You do realize that almost the entirety of the Watergate reporting by Woodward and Bernstein hinged on one anonymous source, right?

      The difference here is that that one source panned out.

      Following a story doesn't mean it always works out cleanly. Ever actually been a journalist?

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    peasandriceAnna Merlan
    12/05/14 1:55pm

    What stands out to me in the Washington Post article are the quotes from other UVA students who are survivors of rape. Whether or not Jackie's story is true/partially true/untrue, rape still occurs on college campuses and gets mishandled by administration, and that's a huge problem. I really hope schools still take the point of the RS article very seriously.

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      moweezy3peasandrice
      12/05/14 2:16pm

      THIS. THIS THIS.

      This is a quote from that article I was trying to boost:

      "While the details of this one case may have been misreported, this does not erase the somber truth this article brought to light: Rape is far more prevalent than we realize and it is often misunderstood and mishandled by peers, institutions, and society at large"

      http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/educatio...

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      SecretAgentOrange4peasandrice
      12/05/14 2:17pm

      This is what makes it so infuriating. There were no shortage of perfectly credible accounts of rape and sexual assault to use for the crux of the Rolling Stone story, but they stuck with the one that sounded the most dramatic, and used the victim's character and credibility as the foundation. Dammit all

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    SugarHilAnna Merlan
    12/05/14 2:10pm

    I went to UVA and I just want to reinforce the obvious: whether Jackie's story was straight up fiction or just had minor discrepancies, the depiction of how Virginia handles rape cases was absolutely, terrifyingly accurate. The way that people are already using this to discredit rape survivors and give the school a pass is sickening.

    I can't even process how far reaching the ramifications of this retraction will be.

    (Also kudos for acknowledging and apologizing for the past piece, Anna.)

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      KeziaSugarHil
      12/05/14 2:42pm

      Whether it was "fiction?" Huh? How would you like to be in those boys' shoes and be falsely accused of rape? Don't know if you are old enough to remember the Tawana Brawley rape case. She falsely accused a Dutchess County prosecutor named Steve Pagones of rape. This is where Al Sharpton got his big break in the media. Turned out Brawley and Sharpton made it all up. Pagones - a prosecutor whose life was ruined because of this- sued Brawley and Sharpton for defamation and won. Good ole Al never apologized and never paid up. His friends bailed him out.

      From a legal standpoint, you can't have a woman go around and falsely accusing men at UVA of rape. That is just bonkers. You have to look at both sides of this.

      And from a legal standpoint, the Rolling Stone author and Rolling Stone are royally screwed. Royally.

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      SugarHilKezia
      12/05/14 2:51pm

      I completely agree with that. Although phi psi was known as one of the "rape frats" while I was there, that does not mean that it was an institutionally approved act and the fact that they were wholesale accused without even the most cursory attempt to verify facts is horrible and unacceptable on several levels. They deserve vindication for that.

      I wasn't talking about how it affects the fraternity but rather the fact that this will completely undermine the beginnings of a conversation on how Virginia manages rape. My focus is on what this will do to survivors who come forward in the future but that doesn't mean I don't think the fraternity wasn't also unfairly impacted by Rolling Stone.

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    JujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes hereAnna Merlan
    12/05/14 2:09pm

    Anna, I realize that you're trying to be gracious here, but the Bradly/Soave article(s) were incredibly dismissive and elitist. Your response was warranted more than their "it couldn't possibly have gone like that" tone.

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      OdysseusJujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes here
      12/05/14 2:21pm

      Her response was juvenile and insulting. She jumped quickly and loudly on the bandwagon of incredibly shoddy reporting that is now revealed to be fiction. The Bradly/Soave articles were respectful and cautions (as were the many, many other articles questioning this story).

      As a result, nobody takes Jezebel or Ms. Merlan particularly seriously. Will real rape victims also suffer because of this? Yes, sadly.

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      Emma GolddiggerJujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes here
      12/05/14 3:08pm

      Bradley's piece had a lot of problems with its tone, but the only problem with Soave's piece is the way he uncritically quoted Bradley. His piece was very "just asking questions; just expressing some doubts" which sounded like a dick move when we all thought there was a lot of rigorous fact-checking and corroborated evidence that was being withheld out of respect to the victim. And we all jumped on him, including me. We were wrong and Soave was right.

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    TomMegginsonAnna Merlan
    12/05/14 1:55pm

    Anna, everyone makes bad calls on the internet now and then. People who are able to own their mistakes are few and far between. Even fewer are those who offer abject apologies. Kudos.

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      PsonicPsunspotTomMegginson
      12/05/14 2:02pm

      I agree. Anna, your apology was heartfelt and passionate, just like your stories. Thank you.

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      Ken Griffey's Swollen JawTomMegginson
      12/05/14 2:53pm

      Yeah one sentence saying sorry is not really heartfelt, just like saying that Anna believed the RS story and planted her flag firmly on Erdley's side without looking into the potential inconsistencies that were brought up when this story was first published is okay because she called them idiots, therefore their claims don't matter.

      Very poor investigating/vetting the story from RS and from Jezebel for just blindly following it without questioning the detractors, compared to the Norman, OK case that was written which was the complete opposite and is still on of the best things I have read on this site in terms of an investigation piece.

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    retrogirlAnna Merlan
    12/05/14 2:21pm

    I am not sure that this story is false, though I understand why they had to issue the retraction. It is very hard to get all the details right after a traumatic event, especially if it is much later. Just because she lied about a detail or got it wrong doesn't mean her whole story is false.

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      VodkaRocks&aPieceofToastretrogirl
      12/05/14 3:42pm

      I agree. The part about not having a party doesn't really hold water to me. Though I was never in the greek system/my school didnt have one. Are all parties documented somewhere? Do they have a party log with dates?

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      Kendallretrogirl
      12/05/14 3:42pm

      Not one single detail reported of several was correct at all, including very prominent details like location. At what point do you admit something may not be real? Is it possible for you to admit that?

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    College GranddadAnna Merlan
    12/05/14 2:07pm

    I think the lesson here is to write down all of the details while being raped. It's the only way to be sure. Maybe tell your rapists to set up a camera. Otherwise, you bitches be lyin'.

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      HermioneStrangerCollege Granddad
      12/05/14 2:38pm

      ::lolsob:: It's horrifying, but, if you are assaulted, attacked, or generally in a traumatizing situation, write down all the details as soon as possible. Write it alllllll down. The sooner the better. Because traumatic memories do get fragmented, and right now the public sees that proof that it didn't happen, instead of proof that it did.

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      BoreasaurusRexCollege Granddad
      12/05/14 3:06pm

      I also find it helpful to immediately find the nearest white male and allow him to confirm or deny that I was raped.

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