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This week on CounterSpin: A Rolling Stone account of a shocking gang rape at the University of Virginia got wide attention in the media for shining a spotlight on campus sexual assaults. But now critics are saying the magazine’s approach was flawed, and some wonder if the whole thing is a hoax. Investigative reporter Lindsay Beyerstein joins us to talk about the piece and what the critics are missing.
Also this week: 30 years ago, a gas leak at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, killed thousands of people and injured tens of thousands more. But if you think of Bhopal as a tragedy from the ’80s, you’re missing the point: It was a crime and it’s far from over. We’ll talk with Amitabh Pal of the Progressive about the ongoing disaster of Bhopal.
LINKS:
–“Rolling Stone‘s Bombshell Story About Campus Rape Comes Under Fire,” by Lindsey Bernstein (New York Observer, 12/3/14)
The Rolling Stone fraud is awful – awful to the falsely accused, awful to women who actually HAVE corroborated claims of assault, awful to a society that likes to deny the reality of patriarchal violence and thus deny justice and safety for women generally. It’s a disgrace. You can’t make a “systemic critique” with a fake story. Rolling Stone, a regular celebrant of the unleashed macho id as “freedom,” has trivialized a real problem. By the way, it IS all up to Jackie to stand by her story… publicly… if anything is going to be done. Is it fair? Are we all up to that kind of pressure? No. But that’s life. The people who contribute to human liberation have to face down attackers. The dean, even the journalist, can’t substitute for the first-person witness to injustice. Support, yes – and there’s no evidence that the dean wasn’t prepared to support “Jackie’s” decision, but he/she can’t come forward him/herself without “Jackie’s” collaboration.