No One Fired After Rolling Stone’s Colossal Rape Debacle

Of course no one was or will be fired at “Rolling Stone” in the wake of the left-wing outlet’s colossal debacle in misreporting a gang rape that almost certainly didn’t happen at the University of Virginia. When you’re an activist outlet disguised as a journalistic outlet, you don’t fire an activist who came thisclose to pulling it off.

The target was the frat subculture, the weapon was a woman identified only as “Jackie,” the institution firing the weapon was “Rolling Stone” magazine. Jackie claimed she had been gang raped at a UVA fraternity, and an exhaustive investigation shows that from publisher Jann Wenner to editor Sean Woods to reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely, Jackie’s story was simply too good to check.

In order to fulfill a documented narrative goal through a story that would show “what it’s like to be on campus now … where not only is rape so prevalent but also that there’s this pervasive culture of sexual harassment/rape culture,” Rolling Stone” made a conscious CHOICE to not commit a single act of Journalism 101.

No investigative work was done to verify Jackie’s story — even her friends weren’t interviewed. No effort was made to find her suspected assailant(s). Neither UVA nor the fraternity were given the necessary information to comment prior to the hysterical and hysterically wrong article being published. Moreover, one of Jackie’s friends says Rolling Stone fabricated a quote from him. Naturally, it was a quote backing Jackie’s horrific story.

This was Narrative/Activist libel disguised as reporting, and no one at Rolling Stone has or will be fired for it.

Which makes one wonder what journalistic malpractice at Rolling Stone does rise to a firing offense.

As long as the target is The Right One, apparently none.

 

John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC