Having a specific story in mind, and then going out to find the “facts” to support it.  Tell the dramatic narrative of ONE example to explain a larger phenomenon.  That’s what right wing media does (i.e., if they can find ONE example of voter fraud, then voter fraud must be a huge problem).  And apparently, that’s what Sabrina Rubin Erdely did as well.

For those unfamiliar, Ms. Erdely wrote a 9,000-word article entitled “A Rape on Campus” for Rolling Stone.  The November 2014 article described a gang rape at a University of Virginia Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house in 2012.  The story relied on solely on one source: the supposed victim, a student known as Jackie.

A four-month police investigation found no evidence that the incident occurred.  Subsequent investigations by other reporters and Ms Erdely herself identified errors in the reporting of the piece.

The Columbia School of Journalism report, commissioned by Rolling Stone, was released yesterday, and described Erdely’s article as “a story of journalistic failure”.  The Columbia School of Journalism report said the magazine failed to use “basic, even routine journalistic practice” to verify the details after Ms Erdely failed to contact the alleged attackers.  “The failure encompassed reporting, editing, editorial supervision and fact-checking”, and there were “systematic failures” at the magazine, the report said.

Rolling Stone officially retracted the story today.

Sadly, the whole upshot of this is that it undermines work to stop sexual violence.  The Columbia School report even notes that “the magazine’s failure may have spread the idea that many women invent rape allegations”.

There is, however, a bit of a saving grace.  Not only did Jackie not hand a specific man over to the authorities, but the report suggests that “Drew,” the ringleader of the gang rape Jackie describes, may be a fictional character. (Jackie described him as both a member of Phi Kappa Psi and a lifeguard at the Aquatic and Fitness Center. No such person fitting this description exists.) Instead of trying to bring her supposed rapist to justice, Jackie did everything in her power to stonewall any attempt to find him.

Jackie’s behavior is consistent with what experts in the field have reported regarding false rape reports, which is that they are rarely accusations of actual people.  “[V]ictims who fabricate a sexual assault report may not want anyone to actually be arrested for the fictional crime,” explain researchers for a report for the National Center for Prosecution of Violence Against Women. “Therefore, they may say that they were sexually assaulted by a stranger or an acquaintance who is only vaguely described and not identified by name.” This makes perfect sense. As I can attest to, story-fabricators generally do it for sympathy and attention, not because they want anyone to get into trouble. Not to mention that falsely accusing a specific man makes it that much more likely you’re going to be found out.

So when a woman makes a specific allegation against a specific attacker — which Jackie didn’t do — this is not likely to be a “false rape” report.  Still, anti-feminists are surely going to use this story to cast doubts on rape accusations that have nothing to do with the Jackie situation. Andrea Tantaros of Fox News has already tried, using the Rolling Stone story to argue that the attention paid to the campus rape issue is “a war happening on boys on these college campuses” and that the accused have “no opportunity to confront witnesses and to present a defense.”  But how could “Drew,” who appears to be a fictional character, have defended himself? And why would he need to, as “Jackie” never reported this rape in the first place?

Jackie’s apparent lying will certainly be used against future accusers, who accuse specific men of specific crimes. But that is comparing apples to oranges. The Rolling Stone mess is a story about a woman who probably made things up to get attention and sympathy. That doesn’t prove the widespread allegation that women routinely redefine consensual sex as rape to get revenge.

P.S.  On a different note, it is pretty amazing that Rolling Stone has chosen not to fire Erdely.