Frat to pursue legal action against 'Rolling Stone'

Show Caption Hide Caption Rolling Stone blasted on discredited rape story Rolling Stone is pledging to review its editorial practices after a leading journalism school issued a blistering critique of how it reported and edited a discredited article about an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia.(April 6)

The fraternity spotlighted in a discredited Rolling Stone article describing an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia will take legal action against the magazine.

"After 130 days of living under a cloud of suspicion as a result of reckless reporting by Rolling Stone magazine, today the Virginia Alpha Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi announced plans to pursue all available legal action against the magazine," the fraternity said in a statement released Monday.

The statement from the fraternity outlines how the Rolling Stone story, viewed by millions, has affected members of Phi Kappa Psi at U.Va. Fraternity members were "ostracized," the fraternity house was vandalized, and national media cast the fraternity as "the iconic symbol of this troubling issue" of sexual assault, the statement says.

"Clearly our fraternity and its members have been defamed, but more importantly we fear this entire episode may prompt some victims to remain in the shadows, fearful to confront their attackers," the Virginia Phi Kappa Psi chapter's president, Stephen Scipione, said in the statement. "If Rolling Stone wants to play a real role in addressing this problem, it's time to get serious."

The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism on Sunday night released a report on the story blasting Rolling Stone for rampant failures in reporting and editing the story, "A Rape on Campus."

CJR: Punishment over rape story up to 'Rolling Stone' Two Columbia Journalism School deans answered reporters' questions about the results of a 'Columbia Journalism Review' examination into a discredited 'Rolling Stone' article detailing an alleged gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity.

The magazine sought the independent examination after details of the gripping article, published in November, failed to hold up under media scrutiny. Eventually, local police also failed to find any evidence supporting the claims made by a student identified as "Jackie."

The magazine issued an apology in December. Author Sabrina Rubin Erdely, who defended her reporting when the controversy first blew up, now also has apologized.

"The report by Columbia University's School of Journalism demonstrates the reckless nature in which Rolling Stone researched and failed to verify facts in its article that erroneously accused Phi Kappa Psi of crimes its members did not commit," Scipione said in the statement. "This type of reporting serves as a sad example of a serious decline of journalistic standards."