ASHE SCHOW: Looks like the J-School investigation of that Rolling Stone story is going to be quite a doozy.
The original story claimed that a U.Va. freshman, Jackie, was gang-raped by seven members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity during a wild party. The whole thing was allegedly part of a fraternity initiation orchestrated by Jackie’s handsome date for the evening. Bruised and bloodied, Jackie escaped through a side door and called her friends, who encouraged her not to report the crime.
But facts came to light after the article was published that painted a completely different picture. There was no party at Phi Psi the night of the alleged incident. Jackie’s friends said they did encourage her to report the crime and that at the time she claimed she was forced to perform oral sex on five men.
It was also discovered that the man Jackie supposedly had a date with that night, Haven Monahan, did not exist.
Rolling Stone apologized for the errors in its reporting, including the absence of any investigation to find the men Jackie claimed had raped her.
But President Teresa Sullivan has not apologized for running with this story, and for breaching her duty of fairness to the falsely accused students.
Related: UVA Professor Urges Rolling Stone Lawsuit: Says Fraternities Have Strong Legal Grounds. Plus, the possibility of suing Jackie, and bringing her up on an honor charge.
And since we know she lied now, can news reports please start using her full name?