Rolling Stone retracts college 'gang-rape expose'

Rolling Stone magazine withdrew and apologized on Sunday for a discredited story about a gang rape on a US college campus, publishing a review of the debacle that found "avoidable" failures in basic journalism practices.

An 8,000-word report on the article by Columbia Journalism Review had found lapses in journalism standards at the pop-culture magazine from start to finish of the purported expose on rape. The story had prompted a police investigation and sparked public outcry when first published in November.

Investigators probing the allegations said last month they found no evidence to support the claims of a violent gang rape at a college fraternity in Virginia.

The Rolling Stone article, written by contributing editor Sabrina Rubin Erdely, detailed accusations by a first-year student identified as "Jackie" that she was gang-raped at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house. It also accused the University of Virginia of tolerating a culture that ignored sexual violence against women.

Questions were raised almost immediately after the article was published and Rolling Stone had all but retracted its story after apologizing in December.

The magazine that has a reputation for its investigative work said it was wrong to have trusted the woman's version of what happened at the university frat house in September 2012.

Despite the shrinking editorial staff at Rolling Stone, the internal review found the failures for the article were ones of judgment and not due to a shortage of resources.

"Rolling Stone's repudiation of the main narrative in A Rape on Campus is a story of journalistic failure that was avoidable. The failure encompassed reporting, editing, editorial supervision and fact-checking," the review said.

The discredited article sought to provide a dramatic example of sexual assault on a college campus and detail the struggles rape victims face at universities across the US.

But reporters and editors were so focused on publishing a harrowing example that "basic, even routine" reporting standards were not followed, according to the report. They also failed to fully check the allegations made by the woman, who was not identified in the story, it added.

With the publication of the critical review of the handling of the article on its website, Rolling Stone said it had officially retracted the story.

"This report was painful reading, to me personally and to all of us at Rolling Stone," a note from Rolling Stone Managing Editor Will Dana said at the top of the review.

Despite the sharp criticism of those involved in the story, Dana said that no one will be fired as the "report was punishment enough for those involved".

The story prompted student protests and the suspension of fraternities at the college, and sparked a national debate about sexual violence on US campuses.

Police in Charlottesville, Virginia, said last month that the woman who made the rape accusations to Rolling Stone had met several times with investigators, but did not discuss allegations that she was gang-raped.

The city's police chief said the case would be suspended, not closed, leaving the door open to further investigation if other evidence emerged.

Dozens of US colleges are under federal investigation over their handling of sexual violence complaints.

AFP - AP - Reuters