Lessons from the Rolling Stone “A Rape on Campus” Debacle

[By Bruce Hennes]  Some months ago, I had lunch with an editor from a major metropolitan newspaper.  At the end of the meal, after swapping childhood and industry stories and a few opinions, she asked me if there was anything she could do to help me.  When an editor asks that question, you better have an answer.  Mine came to me in an instant:  “Just give me honest, objective reporting – and keep the reporter’s opinion out of news articles.  Columnists have opinions; reporters shouldn’t.”

The editor appeared a bit surprised.  “Don’t you have a client you want me to consider for an article?”  “Nope,” I said.  “All I want you to do is to make sure your reporters write stories with journalistic integrity.”

I went on to tell her that I expect reporters to go after our clients.  That’s their job. But when journalists call our clients with preconceived notions, when reporters rush to judgment without having all the facts, when editors change reporter’s stories to fit their own agendas that don’t square-up with the facts and when headlines mischaracterize the story, that’s when we do raise our hand to object.

Don’t think that happens often?  I can’t quantify it, but I suspect it happens more often than it should.

The most recent case-in-point was the Rolling Stone article, alleging a rapist who went unpunished on the University of Virginia campus. From last week’s Rolling Stone:

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Last November, we published a story, ‘A Rape on Campus’ [RS 1223], that centered around a University of Virginia student’s horrifying account of her alleged gang rape at a campus fraternity house. Within days, commentators started to question the veracity of our narrative. Then, when The Washington Post uncovered details suggesting that the assault could not have taken place the way we described it, the truth of the story became a subject of national controversy.

As we asked ourselves how we could have gotten the story wrong, we decided the only responsible and credible thing to do was to ask someone from outside the magazine to investigate any lapses in reporting, editing and fact-checking behind the story. We reached out to Steve Coll, dean of the Columbia School of Journalism, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter himself, who accepted our offer. We agreed that we would cooperate fully, that he and his team could take as much time as they needed and write whatever they wanted. They would receive no payment, and we promised to publish their report in full. (A condensed version of the report will appear in the next issue of the magazine, out April 8th.)

This report was painful reading, to me personally and to all of us at Rolling Stone. It is also, in its own way, a fascinating document ­— a piece of journalism, as Coll describes it, about a failure of journalism. With its publication, we are officially retracting ‘A Rape on Campus.’ We are also committing ourselves to a series of recommendations about journalistic practices that are spelled out in the report. We would like to apologize to our readers and to all of those who were damaged by our story and the ensuing fallout, including members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and UVA administrators and students. Sexual assault is a serious problem on college campuses, and it is important that rape victims feel comfortable stepping forward. It saddens us to think that their willingness to do so might be diminished by our failings.

 Will Dana, Managing Editor

You can read the rest of the Rolling Stone article here.

How can you protect yourself or your organization from reporters who stray from the traditional practice of journalism?  The answers aren’t easy:  Tell the truth; don’t mislead or lie; ask for corrections immediately; share your concerns with the reporter; don’t hesitate to talk to the editor; consider sending a letter to the editor or submitting an opinion piece to correct the record; get your side of the story out and amplify your position; and use social media to talk directly to those most-affected by the situation; don’t depend on the media to tell your side of the story.

Reporters will continue to pursue our clients.  And we’ll continue to hope they do so with facts.

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For more information about the Rolling Stone article and what it means to journalism – and you – we refer you to the Poynter Institute for their take on the situation and other comments:

4 Questions to Keep in Mind While Reading Columbia University’s Review of A Rape On Campus

The Journalism Community Reacts to the Review of “A Rape On Campus”

No One Was Fired at Rolling Stone