Review says Rolling Stone’s Virginia gang rape story a ‘journalistic failure’ |
- Review says Rolling Stone’s Virginia gang rape story a ‘journalistic failure’
- Vaccination: A personal choice?
- Asian shares up, US dollar down after jobs report
- ‘Furious 7’ races to the top of US box office
- New terror law a ‘legal zombie’ from ISA grave, global rights watchdog says
- World’s most powerful atom smasher back in action again
| Review says Rolling Stone’s Virginia gang rape story a ‘journalistic failure’ Posted: 05 Apr 2015 05:57 PM PDT
Review says Rolling Stone's Virginia gang rape story a 'journalistic failure'
The November 19 article "is a story of journalistic failure that was avoidable," according to a 12,866-word report published Sunday by Steve Coll, dean of the journalism school, Sheila Coronel, dean of academic affairs, and journalist Derek Kravitz. Rolling Stone managing editor Will Dana said in an editor's note Sunday that with the publication of Columbia's report, "we are officially retracting 'A Rape on Campus.' We are also committing ourselves to a series of recommendations about journalistic practices that are spelled out in the report." "The problem was methodology, compounded by an environment where several journalists with decades of collective experience failed to surface and debate problems about their reporting or to heed the questions they did receive from a fact-checking colleague," the review found. While Rolling Stone may have hoped the article would raise awareness about sexual assault on college campuses, "the magazine's failure may have spread the idea that many women invent rape allegations," according to the review. The article, "A Rape on Campus," detailed the alleged assault of a woman named Jackie by seven members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. The tale unraveled within two weeks after news outlets including the Washington Post challenged its credibility and criticised the magazine for not contacting the alleged assailants. Rolling Stone apologised for the article, citing "discrepancies" in its account and asked Columbia to do an extensive review of the reporting process. Columbia's review concluded that Rolling Stone's failures "encompassed reporting, editing, editorial supervision and fact-checking." Three key mistakes Columbia's review found that the reporter, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, made three key mistakes. She didn't give the fraternity a chance to respond to the allegations in detail before publication. She didn't reach out to the lifeguard who allegedly orchestrated the rape or confirm he existed. In addition, the reporter didn't contact Jackie's three friends who spoke with her on the night that she said she was raped, the review found, calling that "the most consequential decision" the magazine made. All three friends would have spoken to the reporter had they been contacted, according to the review. "If these reporting pathways had been followed, Rolling Stone very likely would have avoided trouble," the review found. Kathryn Brenner, a Rolling Stone spokeswoman, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Erdely wasn't immediately available for comment. Jackie's lawyer, Palma Pustilnik, declined to comment. The mistakes made by Rolling Stone hold lessons for the media industry as a whole, the review said. "The particulars of Rolling Stone's failure make clear the need for a revitalised consensus in newsrooms old and new about what best journalistic practices entail, at an operating-manual— level of detail," the review said. Worst journalism "A Rape on Campus" won the award for Worst Journalism of 2014 from Columbia Journalism Review, published by the journalism school. In addition to editorial lapses, Rolling Stone was criticised for the December 5 apology in which the magazine blamed its source, saying its trust in Jackie was "misplaced." The 9,000-word article sparked protests at the Charlottesville, Virginia-based school and became a national rallying point for sexual-assault activists. UVA suspended fraternities in the wake of the story and Phi Kappa Psi's house was vandalised by fellow students. In March, Charlottesville police said they found no "substantive basis" to support the account and suspended an investigation. Police were unable to verify the existence of the attackers, and a time-stamped photograph revealed a nearly empty frat house on the night of the alleged incident. Phi Kappa Psi called the Rolling Stone story false and defamatory and has said it's exploring legal options to address damages caused to its chapter and members. 'Not enough' The review said Sean Woods, Erdely's editor on the story, "did not do enough" to push the reporter to address gaps in her reporting. Woods told the authors of the review he "really trusted [Erdely's] judgment in finding Jackie credible." Dana, Rolling Stone's managing editor, told the review's authors that he "had a faith" that reporting gaps in the story were "going to be straightened out" in the fact-checking process, the report said. Before publication, the story's fact-checker expressed doubts about the attribution of a quote in the story. However, Rolling Stone's head of fact-checking later said that she "had faith in everyone involved and didn't see the need to raise any issues with the editors," the review found. Rolling Stone provided Columbia's Journalism School with access to Erdely's reporting records, including her interviews and her research notes, as well as drafts of her story. The alleged victim in the article, "Jackie," declined to respond to questions from the review's authors. Her lawyer told Columbia "it is in her best interest to remain silent at this time." Erdely interviewed Jackie seven times between July and October 2014, and grew concerned that Jackie might stop cooperating with the story, according to the review. Jackie refused to give Erdely the name of the lifeguard who allegedly orchestrated her attack. Rolling Stone decided to publish the story without knowing the lifeguard's name or confirming that he existed, the review found. The magazine should have made that clear to its readers, it said. "That was fundamental to readers' understanding," the review said. 'Alarm went off' About a week after the story was published, Jackie told Erdely she was unsure of how to spell the lifeguard's name, the review found. After that, "an alarm went off in my head," Erdely told the review's authors. "How could Jackie not know the exact name of someone she said had carried out such a terrible crime against her—a man she professed to fear deeply?" Erdely later called her editor at Rolling Stone and said she was no longer confident in the accuracy of the article's description of Jackie's assault, the review found. The review criticised Rolling Stone's use of pseudonyms in the story, saying they "allowed the magazine to evade coming to terms with reporting gaps." Columbia suggested that Rolling Stone consider banning pseudonyms. "Better and clearer policies about reporting practices, pseudonyms and attribution might well have prevented the magazine's errors," the review said. — Bloomberg  |
| Vaccination: A personal choice? Posted: 05 Apr 2015 05:48 PM PDT APRIL 6 — "I want what is best for my kids, and protect them from diseases." Isn't it ironic, how we can strongly agree on the above statement, and also somehow it is the very statement that drives us apart when it comes to vaccination? Most modern parents have never seen the devastating effects that diseases like polio, measles, or whooping cough (pertussis) can have on a family or community. It's easy to think of them as diseases that only existed in the past when the bitter truth is, they still exist. The growing number of people who are anti-vaccination in Malaysia, coupled by the large number of migrant workers from India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Indonesia exposes those who cannot be vaccinated among us to unnecessary risk. As a medical doctor with a public health background, I have an obvious bias towards vaccination. "My baby is healthy, why should I vaccinate?" Many don't realise that vaccination is not about treatment. It's about prevention. Malaysian babies are without polio, measles and whooping cough today thanks to a high vaccination rate among Malaysians. These immune Malaysians confer "protection" to those who are not vaccinated by breaking the chain of infection, and preventing the nasty viruses from reaching them. They form sort of a shield, if you will. And this can only happen when the vaccination rates are above a certain level of the population. But taking into consideration the migration of workers from neighbouring countries especially Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and Pakistan where immunisation rates are low, coupled by the anti-vaccination movement in Malaysia, it is safe to believe the decline in that threshold. This puts those who are not vaccinated in danger of contracting these diseases, which I will illustrate next. "This is my decision, not yours." Let us take the MMR vaccine as an example. If the American CDC number of 99 per cent efficacy for MMR is accurate, and assuming we vaccinate 100 per cent of the population, then we would see: * 1 per cent of those vaccinated still susceptible to measles, and, * Another 1-2 per cent (rough figure) or so susceptible from contraindications to vaccinations i.e. those with allergies, or severe immunodeficiency i.e. from haematological disorders, on chemotherapies, or long-term immunosuppressive therapies, patients with AIDS, and, * Another 7-8 per cent or so of the entire population susceptible because they are too young to have received their full dose of vaccination. This means about 10 per cent of the population is at risk when an outbreak occurs, assuming of course that those who can be vaccinated are vaccinated. The number is higher if those who can be vaccinated, refused. Do MMR vaccines cause autism? No. But proponents of anti-vaccination often cite Andrew Wakefield to justify a causal link between vaccines and autism. While his original paper did not prove causality, his statement linking the vaccines and autism caused panic, and inspired a number of other studies to confirm or disprove his conclusion. The scientific community found significant ethical problems with Wakefield's study, but also realised that his research data was not reproducible.
Needless to say that his study, and therefore findings were dismissed. Some argued that just because we do not have evidence linking autism and vaccinations, nor government-reported correlation between the two, it doesn't mean that vaccines do not cause autism. Alright, but by the same thinking neither can anyone prove that it does. The conspiracy theorist will say this is done to protect the pharmaceutical industries, but again, for the sake of this article, let us keep the discussion to facts. Unless you have evidence to suggest conspiracy, let us move on. Is vaccination absolutely safe? Nothing is absolutely safe. Flying, driving, crossing the streets. There's risk involved in everything we do hence the term relative safety. So the question we need to ask is, are vaccines relatively safe? Absolutely yes. Again, referring to the statistics from the American CDC, and again using MMR vaccines as an example, we are looking at 1 in a million getting a life threatening allergic reaction, and another 1 in a million to develop a serious neurological disorder, and another one in a million will get deafness from the MMR vaccine. To put it in perspective, it is safer than driving a car in this country. Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) said there were 462,423 road accidents and 6,917 road deaths on our roads in 2012. If our population was 29.3 million then, the road accident rate in Malaysia was 15,782 for every million population and road death was 236 for every million population. Which means that the vaccines are 15,782 times safer than driving in Malaysia. The "toxins" in the vaccines And there are those who question the "toxins" contained in the vaccines. To them, they should learn the time honoured pharmacological principal of, "It is the dose that makes the poison." Even natural things can kill you at the right dose. Water, for instance, can kill you when consumed in huge quantities at one time. Traces of formaldehyde in vaccines, for instance, do not pose a safety concern since it is present in such small amounts compared to the concentration that occurs naturally in the body. Yes, unknown to many, formaldehyde is produced in small amounts in the human body as a part of normal physiological functions. Same goes to other chemicals used to manufacture other vaccines. A national obligation A four-week-old baby died in Australia of whooping cough. He was too young to be vaccinated. One family's choice to not vaccinate has effectively ended another's life. Given that the vaccines are safe, there is no reason to refuse vaccination except for personal preference. So the real question we should ask those who refuse vaccination, and more importantly to the policy makers, is whether personal preference should not be allowed to take precedence over the public's when it comes to health? If we can make education compulsory for our young, and mandate parents to send them to school regardless of what they think of the education system, why can't we do it for vaccination? If we can compel parents to send their children for National Service, and bride and grooms to undergo mandatory "kursus", why can't we do it for vaccination? Where is our priority as a nation? While the poverty stricken African continent are calling for help to vaccinate their citizens, we, in a relatively wealthy nation, are rejecting them outright even when given for free. Imagine that. It is true that we have the right to choose. But I am also cognizant of the fact that the rights of one, ends where the right of another begins. Politically, socially, even medically. Vaccination should not be a personal choice but a public and national obligation. * This is the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| Asian shares up, US dollar down after jobs report Posted: 05 Apr 2015 05:44 PM PDT
Labour Department data showed US employers added the fewest jobs in more than a year in March. The rise of 126,000 jobs was well below expectations for a gain of 245,000, according to a Reuters poll of economists. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.6 per cent to its highest level since September 2014. But Japan's Nikkei stock average slumped one per cent shortly after the open, as a resurgent yen deflated shares of exporters. US stocks were closed on Friday for the Easter holiday, but US stock futures fell after the jobs data, indicating a lower open for stocks later today. US S&P e-mini equity futures were thinly traded in Asian time, and down 0.8 per cent after shedding one per cent on Friday. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes, which moves inversely to prices, hit nearly two-month lows of 1.8 per cent on Friday, and stood at 1.841 per cent in early Asian trading, keeping pressure on the greenback. "The widespread slowdown in employment growth across sectors suggests that macroeconomic forces are at work, in particular weak global economic growth and the strong US dollar," strategists at Rabobank said in a note to clients. The US dollar dipped slightly against the yen to 118.89 yen, while the euro climbed about 0.2 per cent on the day to US$1.0988. Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday showed that investors reduced their upside bets on the US dollar in the latest week ended March 31, while net shorts on the euro hit another record high. Crude oil futures took back some of their sharp losses marked before the holiday, after Thursday's preliminary pact between Iran and global powers on Tehran's nuclear programme. Brent added about one per cent to US$55.50 (RM201.46) a barrel, while US crude futures rose about 1.6 per cent to US$49.14 a barrel. Spot gold rose about 0.5 per cent at US$1,217.30 an ounce, bolstered by the downbeat US jobs report. Gold tends to drop inversely to rising interest rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. Higher rates also add to the appeal of the dollar, in which gold is priced, making it more expensive for holders of other currencies. — Reuters |
| ‘Furious 7’ races to the top of US box office Posted: 05 Apr 2015 05:43 PM PDT
LOS ANGELES, April 6 — "Furious 7" raced to the top of the domestic box office, picking up a massive US$143.6 million (RM522.5 million) in its opening weekend. That establishes a new high-water mark for the month of April, blowing past the US$95 million debut of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," and stands as the highest-grossing kick-off for any film in the "Fast and Furious" franchise. It also ranks ninth among the top ten openings in history. Much as "The Dark Knight" turned into a memorial for Heath Ledger, audiences flocked to see star Paul Walker in one of his final roles. The actor died in a 2013 car crash at the age of 40 and his work on the film was completed using digital technology and a series of stand-ins. "This is a bittersweet installment in the franchise," said Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. "[Walker's] passing made this movie more intriguing for people who hadn't seen some of the installments. It raised awareness and its success is a tribute to him." Universal Pictures spared no expense in bringing the latest chapter in the fast cars and gravity-defying-stunts series to the big screen, shelling out US$190 million on the production. It unspooled in 4,003 North American theatres, earning US$14 million on 365 Imax screens and US$11.5 million from premium large format screens. Going into the weekend, most analysts estimated that the film would open in the US$115 million range. Foreign numbers were steroidal. Internationally, the film rolled out across 10,500 screens in 63 territories, earning US$240.4 million. "This is the next member of the billion dollar club and that's a rarefied place to be," said Contrino. "This thing is on fire." With an A CinemaScore and strong reviews, "Furious 7" could be one of the few modern blockbusters that hangs on for more than a few weeks. The month of April is lean on blockbuster fare and "Furious 7" won't get serious competition until "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" debuts on May 1. The opening weekend crowd was impressively diverse, a testament to a series that has drawn strength from its multi-cultural cast. The audience was 51per cent male, 44per cent under age 25, 37per cent Hispanic, 25per cent Caucasian, 24per cent African-American and 10per cent Asian. "We're expanding our audience based on the diversity of interest from different ethnic groups all buying into saga of Dom Toretto and his family," said Nick Carpou, Universal's president of domestic distribution, referencing the character played by Vin Diesel. Last weekend's box office champion, DreamWorks Animation's "Home," showed impressive stamina, falling less than 50per cent. The animated tale picked up US$27.4 million in its sophomore frame, pushing its domestic total to US$95.6 million. In third place, R-rated comedy "Get Hard" earned US$12.9 million. The Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart team-up fell 62per cent from its opening number, bringing its stateside haul to US$57 million. "Cinderella" snagged a fourth place finish, picking up US$10.3 million stateside to push its domestic bounty to US$167.3 million. Globally, the Disney release is closing in on US$400 million. "The Divergent Series: Insurgent" rounded out the weekend top five, nabbing US$10 million and driving the film to US$103.4 million domestically. Among art house releases, Noah Baumbach's "While We're Young" expanded from four to 34 theatres, picking up US$492,976. The A24 release has earned US$791,450 in two weeks. Radius-TWC's "It Follows" also continued to expand, moving from 1,218 to 1,655, though its gross dipped 35per cent to US$2.5 million. The critically adored horror film has made US$8.5 million since debuting on March 13. The Weinstein Company was particularly bullish on the reception for "Woman in Gold," a drama about the fight to recover art stolen by the Nazis. The film picked up US$2 million from 258 locations and will expand to between 800 and 1,000 venues this coming weekend. "The film is definitely poised for a long, long run," said Erik Lomis, the studio's distribution chief. "That's a really solid start." Thanks to "Furious 7," the overall box office reached US$218 million, the first time that ticket sales have crossed US$200 million over the Easter weekend. "These huge results jump start momentum for the blockbuster, summer season, suggesting that 2015 is shaping up to be everything (and maybe even more) that the industry has been hoping for," said Greg Foster, CEO of Imax Entertainment. In other words, "Furious 7" just dropped the mic. — Reuters |
| New terror law a ‘legal zombie’ from ISA grave, global rights watchdog says Posted: 05 Apr 2015 05:43 PM PDT
The Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2015 is a repackaged version of the ISA, HRW's deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said in echoing the sentiments of critics of the Bill, noting that many legal curbs that were buried along with the ISA have now been resurrected. "The draft counterterrorism law is like a legal zombie returned from the grave of the discredited and abusive Internal Security Act," he said in a statement here. "By proposing this legislation, the Malaysian government is signalling its willingness to return to Malaysia's past policies of repression." Tabled in Parliament last Monday, Putrajaya's proposed new law will allow authorities to detain suspected terrorists without bringing them to court for up to two years, with a Prevention of Terrorism Board (POTB) empowered to renew the detention order for an indeterminate amount of time. The law allows terrorist suspects to be detained 21 days upon recommendation by a police inspector, a term extendable for a further 38 days. During this period of detention, the suspect is not permitted legal representation, except when his statement is recorded by an inquiry officer The results of the suspect's inquiry will be presented to the POTB for decision and not a court for full hearing. Should the board decide there is reasonable ground to believe the suspect is involved in any act of terrorism, he or she can be detained without trial for up to two years, a term extendable by the board in two-year increments and for an indeterminate amount of time. Judicial reviews of such sentences are not permitted, according to the Bill, except for questions on its compliance with procedural matters. The current session of Parliament, which ends this Thursday, is expected to vote on the Bill. "Permitting a government-appointed body to order indefinite detention without judicial review or trial is an open invitation to serious abuse," Robertson said. "The draft law creates conditions conducive to torture, and denies suspects the right to challenge their detention or treatment." HRW noted that although the new law excludes political belief or activity from consideration in the detention of terrorism suspects, the provision is limited to political parties registered under the Societies Act. But, it pointed out, the Registrar of Societies (RoS) has the power to refuse or deny the registration of new political entities, a power it often wields as an axe against the opposition. As such, HRW said, opposition politicians still face the risk of being detained under Putrajaya's new anti-terror law. "These proposed laws reflect the continuing deterioration of human rights protection in Malaysia," Robertson said. "To be effective, laws to counter terrorism should meet — not flout — international human rights standards." Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said earlier this month that the Prevention of Terrorism Act will not be misused and that the law is needed to curb militant activities in the country. He also insisted in an interview in Mingguan Malaysia today that POTA is not an attempt by Putrajaya to replace the ISA that permitted detention without trial, saying that the new law will not be used to clamp down differing political views and ideologies. |
| World’s most powerful atom smasher back in action again Posted: 05 Apr 2015 05:31 PM PDT
"After two years of intense maintenance and several months of preparation for restart, the Large Hadron Collider, the most powerful particle accelerator in the world, is back in operation," the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) said. Experiments at the collider have been seeking to unlock clues as to how the universe came into existence by studying fundamental particles, the building blocks of all matter, and the forces that control them. In 2012, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was used to prove the existence of Higgs Boson, the particle that confers mass, earning the 2013 Nobel physics prize for two of the scientists who, back in 1964, had theorised the existence of the so-called "God particle." The upgrade — which saw the LHC shut down in February 2013 — was intended to nearly double the collider's maximum collision capacity. Its previous highest power was eight teraelectronvolts (TeV) reached in 2012, but after the two-year overhaul, it will first reach 13 TeV and can potentially be cranked up to a maximum 14 TeV. CERN said earlier that if all went well with the start-up particle collisions "at an energy of 13 TeV" could start as early as June. During the next phase of the LHC programme, researchers will probe a conceptual frontier called new physics, including antimatter and dark matter. The latter is a theoretical type of matter that cannot be seen with telescopes but is thought to make up most of the universe. It has only been detected by its gravitational effects, CERN says. Ordinary, visible matter comprises only about four per cent of the known universe. Speed of light As part of the recommissioning process, LHC engineers successfully introduced two proton beams, the source material for sub-atomic smashups. All systems would be checked over in coming days before the energy of the beams was increased, the Geneva-based CERN physics lab said in a statement. "Today (Sunday) at 10.42am (0842 GMT) a proton beam was back in the 27-kilometre (17-mile) ring, followed at 12:27 pm by a second beam rotating in the opposite direction," it added. CERN director for accelerators and technology described the LHC as "in great shape." "But the most important step is still to come when we increase the energy of the beams to new record levels," he said. A short-circuit in one of the LHC's magnet circuits eight days ago had delayed the eagerly-awaited restart of the facility in a ring-shaped tunnel straddling the Franco-Swiss border. The LHC allows beams containing billions of protons travelling at 99.9 per cent the speed of light to shoot through the massive collider in opposite directions. Powerful magnets bend the beams so that they collide at points around the track where four laboratories have batteries of sensors to monitor the smashups. The sub-atomic rubble is then scrutinised for novel particles and the forces that hold them together. More than 10,000 scientists work directly or indirectly on the LHC's experiments while the facility itself operates on a budget of nearly €1 billion (RM3.99b) a year. — AFP-Relaxnews |
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