Rolling Stone’s Rape Hoax: Why Did It Happen?
6th April 2015
John Hinderaker asks the as-yet-unanswered questions.
The Columbia report takes us behind the scenes at Rolling Stone and adds new details about how the false story made its way into print. But it says little about why the scandal, one of the worst instances of journalistic malpractice on record, happened.
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Of course: Sabrina Erdely and her editor, Sean Woods, believed “Jackie,” even though there were obvious indications of unreliability, because she was telling them what they wanted to hear, something that was consistent with a “larger pattern.” One might think that the nightmare the principals at Rolling Stone have lived through might generate some self-knowledge. But no. Their biases are intact.
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I don’t know whether sexual assault is a serious problem on college campuses or not. FBI statistics indicate not women aged 18-22 who are not college students are significantly more likely to be raped, or otherwise sexually assaulted, than those who are college students, as one would expect. It occurs to me that if you are a rapist, women aged 18 to 22 are probably a prime target group. But it is an article of faith within the establishment, of which Rolling Stone is emphatically a part, that campus rape is an epidemic. That’s why they wanted to publish the article, and that’s why they weren’t too particular about whether it was true.
Anything that happens is an opportunity to push The Narrative, whether true or not, whether relevant or not.
April 6th, 2015 at 12:30
One of the reasons that information about crime on campus is hard to pin down is that universities put an amazing amount of effort into covering up the potential danger that students may face. Campus security responds to nearly every problem activity and as much as possible is handled without involving law enforcement. After all, what American parent would send a daughter to a school knowing that there’s a significant chance she will be raped?
Even back in ancient times when I went to college, I saw this happening. A stabbing incident (black female on white female – minor injury) resulted in the white student being put on probation and the black student spending an hour in counseling. An Arab student – drunk – was trying to fondle a young woman when her boyfriend objected and was stabbed by the Arab. Who went to jail? Nobody. The hospital bill and all future tuition was taken care of by the university. Campus security responded to a complaint about marijuana smoke from a room down the hall from me. They responded and warned the occupants to open the window and not create a disturbance. Then they spent half an hour toking up with the students. The only time the police were involved was when a dead body was discovered (about once per semester), but you won’t find any discussion on that in the university’s pamphlets.
There’s an overwhelming sense that most universities consider themselves to be tiny, idealistic communities that are above the real world peasants outside their gates. Professors are demi-gods for the students to worship and obey. (Ever see one hitting on a student? One being hit on by a student? Oh, yeah. See one get fired for that? Oh, no.) Faculty members (e.g., Elizabeth Warren) represent those ideals of diversity and sophistication missing in the brutal countryside. All the ethnic groups live together in peace and harmony, with political correctness to buffer discussion and a general distain for religion to prevent “outside” influence. Facts matter little – it’s how you feel and how you act about how you feel that is important – a liberal paradise. If you can lie about everything else, you can also lie about crime and punishment.