A Rolling Stone Gathers No Facts

Abstract

This chapter investigates the account in the Rolling Stone article of the alleged gang rape of “Jackie” at a University of Virginia (UVA) fraternity. It describes how the Rolling Stone story began to unravel as other news organizations began their own investigations of the alleged events and could not replicate Rolling Stone's findings. It also looks into the claims of Rolling Stone's reporter, Sabrina Erdely about Jackie's inconsistent account of the incident, stating that it was common among rape victims. The chapter talks about the missing identities of the alleged nine rapists and inexistent record of any social event on the night of the rape incident at the Phi Psi fraternity house. It highlights the Charlottesville Police Department's investigation that concluded that the events described in the Rolling Stone article was fabricated.