In 2009, administrations from college campuses reported 1,850 instances of sexual assault. In 2012, that number increased by 50 percent with more than 3,900 reports, according to The Washington Post. Yet of these cases, one has arguably received the most media attention: a Rolling Stone article recounting a sexual assault scandal at the University of Virginia that was published and recently retracted. Despite its original purpose, which was to bring to light the unseen dangers on campuses, the article sparked a national controversy of the media’s role in sexual assault coverage.
The recent scandal involving the Rolling Stone article clearly shows that the media does not always publicize such events to bring attention and justice to females affected by sexual assault. All too often, news sources exaggerate rape accounts and make the victims feel more alone and more vulnerable.
As the media publishes more stories, many readers become more skeptical about the accuracy of the accounts. Stories are less captivating as they become more common, and when more articles with similar content break headlines, the public questions whether or not the accounts are true or just sensationalized, profitable reads.
Last November, Rolling Stone‘s “A Rape on Campus” recounted the supposed rape of a student at a prestigious university. The report stated that Jackie, the victim, was allegedly gang-raped by several members of a fraternity. Instead of becoming merely an eye-opener to the hundreds of college assault cases, the article was criticized for its factual inaccuracies and untrue rape allegations. Although more sources have confirmed that the article’s author, Rolling Stone reporter Ms. Sabrina Rubin Erdely, had exaggerated the details of the crime and included false information, many additional media outlets have become increasingly skeptical of other reports of campus rape.
Then Rolling Stone followed up with a retraction statement, written by members of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, addressing the faults of Ms. Erdely’s reporting. This article, published April 5, included an investigation that sought to prove or disprove the credibility of Ms. Erdely’s article. The Columbia group did just that, and stated that the article was inaccurate and untrue, according to the Rolling Stone. 
“Erdely and her editors had hoped their investigation would sound an alarm about campus sexual assault and would challenge Virginia and other universities to do better,” according to the Rolling Stone‘s retraction of the original article. “Instead, the magazine’s failure may have spread the idea that many women invent rape allegations.”