A Rolling Stone Update
Posted on March 11th, 2015 in Uncategorized | 16 Comments »
Just so you know: I emailed Steve Coll, the dean of the Columbia School of Journalism and the man in charge on investigating Rolling Stone’s infamous story on rape at the University of Virginia, to ask him when his report might be finished.
He never responded.
Frankly, I didn’t expect him to answer my question, but I am surprised that he didn’t bother to reply. I’m always surprised when journalists do this. How can we expect other people to talk to us when we deny others even the courtesy of a reply?
That’s why I always try to be courteous and responsive to other journalists, even if for some reason I can’t answer their questions. It only seems fair.
16 Responses
3/11/2024 8:25 am
It brings to mind the old adage about those who can’t actually do something becoming teachers… it makes you wonder what Coll’s bona fides are in the real (non-educational) world.
3/11/2024 5:09 pm
Coll’s written some very serious hard journalism books like “Ghost Wars.”
I do think that the investigation into the Rolling Stone “story” is taking an awfully long time.
3/12/2023 2:01 am
It’s obvious that the Columbia investigation is essentially “O.J.’s search for the real killers II: Electric Boogaloo!”
3/12/2023 10:14 am
Cliff, I have a lot of respect for Steve Coll, who’s a hell of a reporter, so I’m not with you on this-yet. Let’s see how it comes out. But I do think it’s taking an oddly long time.
3/12/2023 11:28 am
There’s a link on drudge saying the CSJ is downsizing.
3/12/2023 12:46 pm
Looks like Rolling Stone, Ederly and Jackie are all going to get away with it after all.
3/12/2023 1:33 pm
I’m not sure what you mean by that Anon. Erdely’s career is finished. Jackie’s name is well known throughout UVa and her picture is plastered all over the internet. She has dropped out of college, and that this is going to follow her for the rest of her life.
I can’t imagine a public humiliation much worse than what they have gone through.
3/12/2023 2:00 pm
That OU SAE kid and his parents are currently on the receiving end of the 2 minute hate. Jackie is nothing compared to what they’re going through at the moment.
3/12/2023 2:05 pm
B -
I’m not a psychologist, but I wonder if they both are somewhat sociopathic and therefore won’t feel the humiliation, at least not to the same degree as a ‘normal’ person would.
And I wouldn’t write Erdely’s career off just yet… America is famous as the land of second (and third, and fourth…) chances… people who don’t recover from stuff that would be fatal in other countries probably could have — it wasn’t their mistakes that got in the way of their recovering — they may have just decided it wasn’t worth the effort, for example. On top of that, probably 85% of the media shares her worldview, so they are inclined to be forgiving over and above our natural inclination to be so.
3/12/2023 2:30 pm
I think the fact that Jackie and Sabrina have completely dropped off the radar for the past 3 months would indicate that they are capable of some shame.
Maybe Jackie will be able to piece her life together if she manages to get her mental problems in check. I’m no psychologist either, but i’m assuming that that would begin with her admitting to herself that she made the story up.
As for Sabrina, i’m sure this has been devastating for her. I’m sure she could have brushed off the criticism she would have gotten from conservatives and anti-feminists, but I think the worst part for her was how quickly progressive activists threw her under the bus in an attempt to protect Jackie and the rape narrative.
America is a big place, and there are plenty of chances to hit the road and start again somewhere. But I doubt we’ll ever hear from her again.
3/12/2023 4:32 pm
(Bloomberg) — Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism will reduce its class size and cut about six positions from its staff as the news industry retrenches.
The school will gradually reduce enrollment over several years and has already stopped filling some vacant faculty positions, Steve Coll, dean of the school since 2013, said in an e-mail to students, faculty and staff today.
…
The New York school will also focus on raising funds for student scholarships, Coll said. Estimated tuition, fees and living expenses for a full-time master’s degree student are $92,933, according to the school website. Coll said he will host a public meeting tomorrow to discuss the changes.
3/14/2015 10:07 am
B -
In SRE’s case, the fact that she has completely dropped off of the radar for the last few months would seem to be due more for reasons of legal protection (not accidentally saying anything that she shouldn’t) than because of shame.
3/15/2015 7:22 pm
“My first thoughts? Why would a venerated school of journalism carry the water for what could be a Wenner public relations gambit; i.e., the ol’ “independent review” that’s not really “independent” and not really a “review”? Does the Columbia J School actually have the guts to deeply examine its client’s editorial process while the threat of a defamation suit is hanging over Rolling Stone’s head? And whatever happened to all the additional internal reviewing that Rolling Stone has been promising in rapidly changing editor’s notes thrown on top of its “A Rape on Campus” story since the story began unraveling in the first week of December?”
Via the wrap
3/16/2015 11:15 pm
I think Rolling Stone’s stone plan is to do the following:
1. Google “A rape on campus UVA rolling stone” weekly
2. If any new news, blogs, opinions, etc appear as published within the past week, continue to maintain silence.
3. As soon as four full weeks pass with no new hits what-so-ever, they’ll know that the public has officially moved on and stopped caring, at which point they will publish the results of Columbia’s investigation.
3/16/2015 11:21 pm
I think Rolling Stone’s plan is to do the following:
1. Google “A rape on campus UVA rolling stone” weekly
2. If any new news, blogs, opinions, etc appear as published within the past week, continue to maintain silence.
3. As soon as four full weeks pass with no new hits what-so-ever, they’ll know that the public has officially moved on and stopped caring, at which point they will publish the results of Columbia’s investigation.
3/17/2015 8:27 pm
No offense but Coll probably has a half second a day to respond to 500 emails , most of which are filtered by a secrtry, on top of barely having a minute to do his job as Dean. It is understandable. ..he probably has the highest profile jschool job in the country.
I think i saw that the kid dropped out, but maybe that isnt true. That can happen…someone is high profile case, then they drop out before dropping back in. By the time they drop back in the world has moved on from the media circus. Rolling Stone is still pulishing too. All these places benefit from the 24 hour news cycle…after their time in the spotlight is up something else take their place in the public eye.