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Sabrina Erdely

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Sabrina Rubin Erdely
File:Sabrina Erdely.jpg
Born
Sabrina Rubin

1971 or 1972 (age 52–53)[1]
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania
Occupationjournalist
SpousePeter Erdely
AwardsGLAAD Media Award (2012)

Sabrina Rubin Erdely is an American magazine reporter. Erdely's Rolling Stone story "A Rape on Campus" was named by Columbia Journalism Review as "the Worst Journalism of 2014"[2] and as "Error of the Year" by the Poynter Institute.[3]

Education and early life

Erdely attended and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1994.[4] According to Erdely, she was initially a pre-med student but became a journalism major while working on the staff of the 34th Street, the magazine insert for the campus newspaper.[5] After leaving Penn, Erdely went to work for Philadelphia before pursuing a career as a freelance magazine writer.[4]

Magazine writing

Early work

Erdely's 1996 story for Philadelphia, in which a woman was alleged to have been raped by her gynecologist, was nominated for a National Magazine Award. In 2004 Erdely wrote an article for the University of Pennsylvania's alumni magazine, the Pennsylvania Gazette, in which she called journalist Stephen Glass a "sociopathic creep" for fabricating stories.[6] A 2012 story for Rolling Stone, alleging bullying of gay students in Minnesota, was similarly nominated and went on to receive a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Magazine Article.[4][7] Erdely's 2013 Rolling Stone story "The Rape of Petty Officer Blumer" chronicled the alleged drugging and rape of a U.S. Navy female petty officer by three U.S. Army soldiers.[8]

Some questioned the veracity of Erdely's story on Philadelphia's Catholic church, which alleged Charles Engelhardt, a priest at St Francis de Sales (pictured) sexually abused a minor.[6][9]

Rolling Stone article: "The Catholic Church's Secret Sex-Crime Files"

In 2011 Erdely reported a story for Rolling Stone about child abuse within the Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia. Erdely's story told about a fifth grade altar boy referred to by the pseudonym "Billy Doe" whom "brutal attacks turned ... into a sullen, drug-addicted loner," alleging a "high-level conspiracy." Billy Doe was an adult when he made his accusations, resulting in criminal charges leading to the jailing of three church employees and a major civil suit by Billy Doe against the church. [10]

Ralph Cipriano wrote in Newsweek that "Erdely didn't know or bother to find out ... that Billy had already told his story to the archdiocese, police, and a grand jury, and would subsequently retell it to two different juries in two criminal cases. And every time he told his story, the details kept changing." In the first iteration of the rape Billy Doe claimed to have endured, he was knocked unconscious, stripped, tied to a church altar with sashes, and then anally raped on the altar for five hours. Subsequent iterations of the rape recounted by Billy Doe became increasingly less dramatic; a final version omitted the five-hour altar anal rape. Instead, Billy Doe explained, he had been coerced into engaging in mutual masturbation.[11] Cipriano also criticized Erdely for failing to include information on Billy Doe's background that could have impugned his credibility; he had, for instance, been arrested six times, once while trafficking 56 bags of heroin.[12][13]

When Erdely was covering the Billy Doe story, her husband was a criminal prosecutor for the District Attorney of Philadelphia which was overseeing the case. Rolling Stone editors said that it was not a conflict of interest because he was not personally involved in the prosecution.[14] William Anthony Donohue at the Catholic League denounced "malicious distortions of the kind found in Erdely’s diatribe."[9] The conviction of one church employee has since been overturned and a new trial ordered for the one remaining (the third church employee died in prison while appealing his verdict).[15][16]

Rolling Stone distanced itself from Erdely's story on rape at the University of Virginia.

Rolling Stone article: "A Rape on Campus"

Main article: A Rape on Campus

In 2014, Erdely says she set out to find a sexual assault story at an elite school.[17] Her resulting story for Rolling Stone, titled "A Rape on Campus" and published in the December 2014 issue of that magazine (first available in November 2014), alleged that seven members of Phi Kappa Psi at the University of Virginia gang-raped a student at that fraternity house on September 28, 2012.[18]

Separate inquiries by both Phi Kappa Psi and the Washington Post revealed major errors and discrepancies in the report and Erdely's story was subject to intense media criticism and questions as to its truthfulness.[19] The Washington Post and Boston Herald both issued calls for magazine staff involved in the report to be fired.[20] Natasha Vargas-Cooper, a columnist at The Intercept, said that Ederly's story showed "a horrendous, hidden bias," while a staff editorial in the Wall Street Journal charged that "Ms. Erdely did not construct a story based on facts, but went looking for facts to fit her theory." As criticism of the story mounted, Erdely disappeared from public view, with various media outlets describing her as "MIA" and "off the grid."[21][22] Rolling Stone subsequently issued three apologies for the story. On December 10, 2014, the Washington Post published an updated account of its inquiry into the Rolling Stone article. Summarizing that report, Slate noted that it "strongly implies, without outright saying so, that the gang rape at the center of Sabrina Rubin Erdely’s article might be fabricated."[23]

Scott Goodman, a lawyer, speculated that legal action against the magazine by persons accused of the rape may result.[24] Rolling Stone publisher Jann S. Wenner has asked the dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism to audit the editorial processes leading up to the publication of the controversial story. [25]

On January 12th, the University of Virginia reinstated the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity after the police investigation concluded that no incident had occurred at the fraternity. According to Charlottesville police Capt. Gary Pleasants, Phi Psi has been cleared; “We found no basis to believe that an incident occurred at that fraternity, so there’s no reason to keep them suspended.”[26] The investigation into the allegations made by Erdely are ongoing. The article does not appear on her personal website.

Film projects

A film, titled The Girl Who Conned the Ivy League and based on Erdely's story of the same name for Rolling Stone, is currently in development with Rob Epstein attached as director.[27] In 2014 Amanda Seyfried was cast in the title role of Esther Reed.[28]

In 2013 it was announced that Craig Brewer would adapt Erdely's story Gangster Princess Of Beverly Hills into a motion picture.[29]

Personal life

According to her website, Erdely lives in Philadelphia with her husband and two children. Her website states that she has taught journalism classes at Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania.[30]

References

  1. ^ Farhi, Paul (November 28, 2014). "Sabrina Rubin Erdely, woman behind Rolling Stone's explosive U-Va. alleged rape story". Washington Post. Retrieved January 30, 2015. ...Erdely, 42, a contributing editor to Rolling Stone and a freelancer who writes frequently about crime and social issues.
  2. ^ Uberti, David (22 December 2014). "The worst journalism of 2014". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  3. ^ "The year in media errors and corrections 2014". Poynter.org. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference philly was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Bio". sabrinaerdely.com. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  6. ^ a b Erdely, Sabrina (January 2004). "Reflections on a Shattered Glass". Pennsylvania Gazette. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  7. ^ "GLAAD Media Award Nominations: Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Modern Family, Glee Score Nods". E Online. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  8. ^ Erdely, Sabrina (14 February 2013). "The Rape of Petty Officer Blumer". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  9. ^ a b "ROLLING STONE GETS UGLY: VILE HIT ON PHILLY ARCHDIOCESE". catholicleague.org. Catholic League. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  10. ^ Erdely, Sabrina (6 September 2011). "The Catholic Church's Secret Sex-Crime Files". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  11. ^ "Another Rolling Stone Rape Article Has Major Holes". Newsweek. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  12. ^ Cipriano, Ralph. "The Story of Billy". Independent Voice. Philadelphia, PA. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  13. ^ "Catholic Sex Abuse Case". Philadelphia magazine. Philadelphia, PA. 22 October 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  14. ^ Farhi, Paul (12 December 2014). "Rolling Stone magazine has often thrived on controversy. Is this time different?". Washington Post. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  15. ^ "Philadelphia priest, teacher convicted of abuse seek new trial". National Catholic Reporter. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  16. ^ "The impact of the court decision to reverse Lynn's conviction". Philadelphia City Paper. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  17. ^ Goldberg, Jonah (1 December 2014). "Rolling Stone rape story sends shock waves -- and stretches credulity". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  18. ^ Rubin, Sabrina (2014-11-19). "A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
  19. ^ Schow, Ashe (3 December 2014). "If false, Rolling Stone story could set rape victims back decades". Washington Examiner. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  20. ^ "Apparently, this Rolling Stone gathers no facts". Boston Herald. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  21. ^ Concha, Joe (9 December 2014). "Lena Dunham's Republican-Raped-Me Story Crumbles as Legal Action Looms". Mediaite. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  22. ^ Weaver, Al (8 December 2014). "Rolling Stone's Disgraced UVA Reporter Has Gone Completely Silent". Daily Caller. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  23. ^ Rosin, Hannah (10 December 2014). "The Washington Post Inches Closer to Calling the UVA Gang Rape Story a Fabrication". Slate. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  24. ^ "Civil, Criminal Lawsuits: Possible Outcomes of Rolling Stone Expose". WCAV-TV. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  25. ^ Wemple, Erik (2014-12-19). "Rolling Stone farms out review of U-Va. rape story to Columbia Journalism School". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
  26. ^ "Police clear U-Va. fraternity, say rape did not happen there". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
  27. ^ "'Lovelace' Directors on 'The Girl Who Conned The Ivy League' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  28. ^ "Seyfried and McG Join 'The Girl Who Conned The Ivy League'". screenrant.com. February 15, 2014.
  29. ^ Fleming, Michael (27 February 2013). "Craig Brewer Signs On For Paramount's 'Gangster Princess Of Beverly Hills'". Deadline. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  30. ^ "Sabrina Rubin Erdely - Biography". Sabrina Rubin Erdely. Retrieved 6 December 2014.

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