A Rape on Campus
A 9,000-word cover story built on one uncorroborated account. Five months later, the magazine that ran it retracted it in full.
- First reportRolling Stone
"A Rape on Campus"
Sabrina Rubin Erdely's cover story described a University of Virginia student, "Jackie," recounting a brutal gang rape at a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity party. Rolling Stone never contacted the accused men, never located the fraternity brother Jackie said orchestrated the assault, and never reached the friends she said she spoke to that night.
Columbia Journalism Review, investigation of the story's reporting ↗ - UpdateRolling Stone
Editor's note admits "discrepancies," story republished unchanged
Within three weeks, other outlets' reporting had raised doubts Rolling Stone couldn't answer. The magazine added a note acknowledging "discrepancies" in Jackie's account but republished the story largely as written. A jury later found this specific republication was made with actual malice.
Washington Post, coverage of the defamation verdict ↗ - CorrectionCharlottesville Police Department
No evidence found to support the assault as described
After a five-month investigation, police said they could not "conclude to any substantive degree" that anything happened at Phi Kappa Psi or any other fraternity house that night — while stopping short of saying nothing happened to Jackie at all.
Washington Post, "Police find no evidence of alleged sexual assault at U-Va. fraternity" ↗ - RetractionRolling Stone / Columbia Journalism School
Full retraction after independent review
Rolling Stone commissioned Columbia's journalism school to review its own reporting. The resulting report called the story "a journalistic failure that was avoidable," citing breakdowns in reporting, editing, editorial supervision, and fact-checking. Rolling Stone retracted the piece in full the night the report came out.
Columbia Journalism Review, the investigation report ↗ - AftermathU.S. District Court, Charlottesville
Jury: Rolling Stone defamed UVA dean Nicole Eramo
A federal jury found Rolling Stone, its publisher, and Erdely liable for defaming Associate Dean Nicole Eramo, whom the story cast as indifferent to Jackie's claims. Jurors found actual malice and awarded Eramo $3 million.
Washington Post, jury verdict coverage ↗
What it teaches
Five months passed between the cover story and its retraction. Millions of readers saw the first version; a much smaller number ever saw what replaced it.