Rolling Stone Discussion

The reporter wished to pursue a story that would get at the heart of rape culture on American college campuses. A staff member working on sexual assault issues at the University of Virginia put her in touch with a girl she had worked with who alleged she had been gang raped at a fraternity, possibly as an initiation ceremony for those pledging.

One area where the reporter might have gone wrong was seeking out the story instead of waiting for one to come to her. When a reporter goes looking for a story it is slightly more likely that they will find a source that is inventive because they want the media attention. As a reporter, one should always be cautious of people who want their story told, but since the reporter sought “Jackie” out, it becomes kind of tricky. She probably should have done more research when things started to look fishy. It is difficult for a journalist to abandon a story once they have put a lot of work in, and it is possible the reporter wouldn’t let herself see the inconsistencies.

The interviews Jackie and the reporter gave to the post directly contradicted one another; making it obvious that one of them was lying.

The publisher and editors didn’t fact-check much beyond the materials the reporter submitted to them. Her main editor could have encouraged her to do more investigating and to keep looking into things until it all matched up.

According to the Columbia University review, the reporter didn’t push sources hard enough, the editors didn’t push the reporter hard enough and the fact-checkers didn’t reach beyond the material they were given by the reporter.

The publisher and editors accepted the report and admitted fault in the process by which the story came about and was published. Its credibility has been damaged, but they did not make the decision to fire the reporter, perhaps because there were several employees responsible. The magazine doesn’t seem to have an unethical core so much as a lazy staff. The report doesn’t come across as if anyone involved intended to be intentionally unethical, they just weren’t as diligent as they could have been in assuring accuracy.

My Bad Business Experience and What I did about it

I registered online for a belly dancing workshop and paid through PayPal, it was $60 total for 3 classes at $20 each. The workshop was being held in a dance studio in Columbus, Ohio (so about a 2 hour drive for me) and I was to meet up with the other dancers and follow them to the place.

However, in a tragic twist of events, we failed to meet up and so I ended up driving myself, and when I made it to Columbus I couldn’t find the studio anywhere. I tried looking it up with Google Maps, calling the number on the website (no answer) and asking other businesses in the vicinity if they knew where it was with no luck.

Finally, I found the place (which was housed within another dance studio with a different name) and the door was locked, so I texted one of the other dancers I knew and when they had a break between classes she got my text and came to let me in. I had missed the first two classes ($40 wasted) and was able to participate in part of the last class.

One of the other dancers suggested that I ask for a refund since I missed the classes and she thought the owner would be very understanding. At first, it seemed that she was and she said she would write me a check for the $40 and bring it to me later that evening at the performance.

Well, the performance was ending and I was ready to go home and still no word from her about the refund, so I approached her and asked if she brought the check. She got very nasty with me and said she didn’t have time to deal with that and I would have to come back another time and get it settled. I explained to her that I came from out of town and that it would be easiest for me if we could do it right then.

Well, apparently, that was considered harassment and she said I would have to leave the premises or I would be kicked out. Obviously, I didn’t feel I was in the wrong, but I didn’t want to incur any legal trouble myself so I left and went home.

When I got home, I did file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and was refunded the partial amount of $20.

Even though the refund wasn’t as much as I had hoped, the satisfaction of filing a complaint was pretty satisfactory, and it kind of worked.

City Council Meeting - Monday, March 23, 2015

City Council members approved the 2015-2016 fiscal year budget Monday during its meeting by a 5-4 vote.

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams said city revenue would increase by $650,000, including $1 million for street construction.

He also said the new budget will allow for the addition of two new field auditors in the finance department.

The approved budget will allow operations in the city’s police, fire department and public works departments to continue as usual.

Also during the meeting, Williams commented on the two unrelated shooting deaths of Joshua Martin and Rudy Magana in Huntington this week.

“The two events are separate from one another, and they’re tragic,” Williams said. “I have the ultimate faith in the Huntington Police Department.”

City Council Meeting - Monday, March 9, 2015

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams urges council members get input from citizens and submit their lists for spring road paving to the Public Works Department by March 20.

Williams said “cold patching” the potholes will begin as soon as the roadways are clear of water.

“After coming out of this winter season, our roads are beat to Hades,” Williams said.

During the last winter storm, all six of Huntington’s snow plows ran 72 consecutive hours with no injuries or accidents reported.

The city council voted to withdrawal the resolution prohibiting advertisements on the Greater Huntington Wall of Fame until the matter could be discussed further.

Williams said he wants the resolution to achieve a middle ground and proposed it be held until such a time as that could be achieved. Williams cited his concern with a resolution completely banning a medium as the reason for the delay.

“The Wall of Fame is a sacred wall,” Williams said.

During the meeting, Williams made several announcements.

Williams announced the award of an EPA grant to the city. He said Huntington received the second highest score of the 20 cities that received the EPA’s brownfield planning grant.

Williams also declared April 2015 Free Housing Month in honor of the 47^th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

The council approved a resolution authorizing Williams to apply for and enter a West Virginia’s Governor’s Community Partnership Program to receive funds of $3,000 for the Healing Place of Huntington, Inc.

City Council Meeting - March 9

I will be attending the City Council meeting today, Monday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. Some of the resolutions being voted on tonight include one to get $3,000 for The Healing Place and one to prevent advertisements from being placed on the Greater Huntington Wall of Fame.

City Council Meeting - Monday, February 23, 2015

Huntington City Council approved a $6.5 million sewage bond Monday during its public meeting and addressed snow removal issues.

Every council member present voted in favor of the bond.

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams said the bond would not cause a rate increase.

Citizens present at the meeting had questions about the city’s efforts to remove snow effectively and efficiently.

Williams said the city is willing to make adjustments to its snow-removal system in order to better serve citizens.

“I’m not going to break my arm trying to pat our own back,” he said. “We have things we need to fix.” 

State of the City

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams focused on the 2015 budget and his three major development projects Tuesday at the State of the City address in City Hall. Williams also unexpectedly highlighted several social issues plaguing Huntington as well.

Along with discussion of the budget and major projects, Williams also talked about what is being done to combat the drug problem and to help the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Instead of ending with the state of the city as being “vibrant, teeming with optimism, fiscally sound and is at the beginning of a renaissance,” Williams opened his address this way.

Williams said that the city has to take on the responsibility of everyday things that affect the citizens of Huntington.

“We are expected to act, because we deal with potholes, sidewalks, garbage pickup, fire protection, law enforcement and upkeep of neighborhoods on a daily basis,” Williams said. “Our citizens rightly demand efficient and effective services.”

Williams said that the city council heard his plea last year to rise to excellence and did just that. He cited several underway projects as evidence of their excellence in action.

”We embraced excellence and experienced a level of accomplishment that has not been observed in our city in seven decades,” he said.

As predicted, Williams talked about his major development projects throughout the speech, including a proposal to address street flooding, free Wi-Fi for downtown Huntington, commercial development of Hal Greer Boulevard, high-speed broadband for the city, the “River to Jail” Strategy, Saturday and Sunday morning cleanups and off-campus rental property inspections.

In reference to the budget, which has decreased from the amount in 2014 with revenues down 5 percent, Williams said he is accommodating for the loss.

“We have constructed a budget within the limits of our revenues,” Williams said. “We will continue to strive for excellence in all that we do. It is necessary for us to determine how we will address our long-term capital needs. Just as we have successfully established a paving program by having a dedicated revenue source, we need to establish a consistent capital improvement program.”

However, Williams said that he has faith in Huntington’s ability to be a great city.

“We live in a marvelous city,” he said. “Our city was constructed in a way that leaves others envious. Our city has wonderful bones. The bones have been allowed to deteriorate. But the structure can be restored to its former grandeur.”

Williams also mentioned his three major projects, the commercialization of Hal Greer Boulevard, the River to Rail development and the brownfield industrial area, and the fourth project high-speed broadband Internet for the entire city, which will tie the other three projects together with a virtual ribbon.

“These three project areas combined with a proposal to deploy high-speed broadband provide our city the greatest opportunity for consistent economic expansion since the 1940s,” Williams said.

One of the social issues Williams focused heavily on was drugs in the area.

“The single-largest issue we are facing is the level of addiction in our community,” he said. “We have chronicled all that we are doing to address the drug issue.”

Williams said he feels that an underutilized resource in the community is its youth.

“We often times place this group aside and somehow expect them to sit back and listen rather than be heard,” Williams said. “When we turn a deaf ear to this group we lose insight and a fresh perspective. I’ve had opportunities to meet with the youngest of our citizens as I have visited our schools. I always leave invigorated and impressed at their passion, intellect, ingenuity and incredible patience.”

Williams said that he embraces diversity in his council and wants to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard and their concerns addressed.

“I have formed an LGBT Advisory Council,” he said. “We have created a liaison between the LGBT community and my office as well as with the police chief and fire chief. We do not have the time or luxury, nor should we ever be inclined, to exclude anyone from the table of community affairs and field of mutual ambition. We need all hands on deck.”

Williams ended his address on a positive note.

“Behold, we are here to do a new thing,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming, but change has finally come.”