Fake News Research: Brett Kavanaugh and Allegations of Sexual Misconduct

Sexual assault around the world is being reported on the news more than ever because the conformity of the past is no longer a common occurrence. In the 1960s, conformism kept the media silent quiet about mostly everything because the media feared of being called red-baiters and being blacklisted. The media no longer needs to worry about these problems and now is becoming increasingly open with what they release. Both traditional media and new media have started to write the craziest articles possible, but this could result in misconception or accusation of libel. When it comes to sexual assault, both traditional and new media, both are starting to spread incorrect information or infer facts that are statistically wrong.

False sexual assault allegations by both traditional and new media are reported to be extremely rare. It is now commonly agreed that the quantity of false rape allegations is only 2 to 10 percent. The main problem is it is difficult to determine what a false sexual assault accusation would be considered. Many skew statistics by also trying to include the quantity of women who do not report their statistics. Although it is agreed that the rate is 2 to 10 percent many believe it should either be lower or higher. Traditional media has listed the rate at which false sexual assault accusations within that range at “four percent” (Independent). The Cut stated that false sexual assault accusations were approximately “5 percent”. New Media, although they don’t report a statistic, they have argued the rate to be considerably low due to the quantity of individuals that do not report and even has a hashtag to go with it (Twitter).

Many research projects have been conducted to measure the amount of false sexual assault accusation, but they have all disagreed in number. A study done by Theilade and Thomsen reported that the maximum percentage would either be one point five or ten percent. The New York Rape Squad reported the rate was two percent with a research project done by Hursch and Selkin agreeing on that rate. Some research projects have revealed extremely high rates of false sexual assault accusations being as high as 90 percent by Stewart and forty-five or forty-seven percent by Gergory and Lees, and Maclean respectively. The rate of false sexual assault accusations has decreased “2 percent” (FBI). According to a research document by Eugene Kanin he compared countless research projects done to determine false sexual assault allegations and established that most of them are flawed because of extraneous factors not necessarily bias.

The United States has taken a stance on sexual assault in other countries attempting to protect citizens from sexual assault. In a report written by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security the rate of rape has increased by forty percent for American citizens. After the United States revealed this shocking statistics, South Korea immediately pushed for laws protecting foreigners from rape as well as apologizing to the United States for all sexual assault cases that have occurred (OSAC). The United Nations has also taken a stance on sexual assault and has begun trying to record statistics from countless countries.

One of the most famous pieces of fake news was released by the Rolling Stones in 2012. The Rolling Stones magazine had published an article written by a student at the University of Virginia. Without researching the article that was written, Rolling Stones published the article and later repealed the article when research revealed the story was fake. Not only did this hurt the reputation of the news article, but anyone who was accused of rape had been expelled from the school. The article caused the schools national rank to decrease and the quantity of applicants

the school received greatly decreased. Many new reporters suggested the university sue the magazine or the magazine sue the girl who wrote the article, but in the end the magazine just apologized for the article and didn’t pursue charges. Before the article was released, however, there had been rape cases in the news from top school such as Vanderbilt, Yale, and Harvard. This led to numerous account of mishandled reports by these universities and countless court cases. This is an instance of where one report that turned out to be fake resulted in disastrous effects and why fake news is a prominent issue in contemporary society.

Many people reference the Scarlet Letter when talking about fake news. The Scarlet Letter addresses how everyone jumps on the bandwagon usually set by the environment or sensationalism. This instance is very similar to an article published by Lukas Mikelionis. In Pennsylvania a boy was accused of sexual assault by five girls. Most of the community believed the girls as a result of mob mentality and the boy was not only fired from his job but many people at his school bullied him. Everyone believed the girls, even the boy's parents, until one girl finally came out admitting she made the event up. The girls had little repercussions even though they destroyed the boy's life and are now facing charges by the boy's parents. This instance of false sexual assault occurs quite often. In a study by Eugene Kanin, a woman pressed charges because her partner didn’t pull out which was agreed upon and she blamed him for the pregnancy in court. The man initially had charges pressed against him but in a second court case he was proven innocent mostly on the grounds they were not using protection to begin with.

The most prominent form of fake news attacking the media currently is theSexual assault around the world is being reported on the news more than ever because the conformity of the past is no longer a common occurrence. In the 1960s, conformism kept the media silent quiet about mostly everything because the media feared of being called red-baiters and being blacklisted. The media no longer needs to worry about these problems and now is becoming increasingly open with what they release. Both traditional media and new media have started to write the craziest articles possible, but this could result in misconception or accusation of libel. When it comes to sexual assault, both traditional and new media, both are starting to spread incorrect information or infer facts that are statistically wrong.

False sexual assault allegations by both traditional and new media are reported to be extremely rare. It is now commonly agreed that the quantity of false rape allegations is only 2 to 10 percent. The main problem is it is difficult to determine what a false sexual assault accusation would be considered. Many skew statistics by also trying to include the quantity of women who do not report their statistics. Although it is agreed that the rate is 2 to 10 percent many believe it should either be lower or higher. Traditional media has listed the rate at which false sexual assault accusations within that range at “four percent” (Independent). The Cut stated that false sexual assault accusations were approximately “5 percent”. New Media, although they don’t report a statistic, they have argued the rate to be considerably low due to the quantity of individuals that do not report and even has a hashtag to go with it (Twitter).

Many research projects have been conducted to measure the amount of false sexual assault accusation, but they have all disagreed in number. A study done by Theilade and Thomsen reported that the maximum percentage would either be one point five or ten percent. The New York Rape Squad reported the rate was two percent with a research project done by Hursch and Selkin agreeing on that rate. Some research projects have revealed extremely high rates of false sexual assault accusations being as high as 90 percent by Stewart and forty-five or forty-seven percent by Gergory and Lees, and Maclean respectively. The rate of false sexual assault accusations has decreased “2 percent” (FBI). According to a research document by Eugene Kanin he compared countless research projects done to determine false sexual assault allegations and established that most of them are flawed because of extraneous factors not necessarily bias.

The United States has taken a stance on sexual assault in other countries attempting to protect citizens from sexual assault. In a report written by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security the rate of rape has increased by forty percent for American citizens. After the United States revealed this shocking statistics, South Korea immediately pushed for laws protecting foreigners from rape as well as apologizing to the United States for all sexual assault cases that have occurred (OSAC). The United Nations has also taken a stance on sexual assault and has begun trying to record statistics from countless countries.

One of the most famous pieces of fake news was released by the Rolling Stones in 2012. The Rolling Stones magazine had published an article written by a student at the University of Virginia. Without researching the article that was written, Rolling Stones published the article and later repealed the article when research revealed the story was fake. Not only did this hurt the reputation of the news article, but anyone who was accused of rape had been expelled from the school. The article caused the schools national rank to decrease and the quantity of applicants

the school received greatly decreased. Many new reporters suggested the university sue the magazine or the magazine sue the girl who wrote the article, but in the end the magazine just apologized for the article and didn’t pursue charges. Before the article was released, however, there had been rape cases in the news from top school such as Vanderbilt, Yale, and Harvard. This led to numerous account of mishandled reports by these universities and countless court cases. This is an instance of where one report that turned out to be fake resulted in disastrous effects and why fake news is a prominent issue in contemporary society.

Many people reference the Scarlet Letter when talking about fake news. The Scarlet Letter addresses how everyone jumps on the bandwagon usually set by the environment or sensationalism. This instance is very similar to an article published by Lukas Mikelionis. In Pennsylvania a boy was accused of sexual assault by five girls. Most of the community believed the girls as a result of mob mentality and the boy was not only fired from his job but many people at his school bullied him. Everyone believed the girls, even the boy's parents, until one girl finally came out admitting she made the event up. The girls had little repercussions even though they destroyed the boy's life and are now facing charges by the boy's parents. This instance of false sexual assault occurs quite often. In a study by Eugene Kanin, a woman pressed charges because her partner didn’t pull out which was agreed upon and she blamed him for the pregnancy in court. The man initially had charges pressed against him but in a second court case he was proven innocent mostly on the grounds they were not using protection to begin with.

The most prominent form of fake news attacking the media currently is the sexual assault accusations against Kavanaugh. Many news stations assumed he had raped and sexually assaulted countless women, but in the end, he was proven innocent. The trial lasted weeks and ended when the woman that accused him admitted to lying. Although the news articles could have talk about the fact the woman was wrong, the news decided to continue attacking

Kavanaugh for sexual assault or promoting sexual assault. The New Yorker wrote an article implying through their diction that Kavanaugh supported sexual assault and inferred men can get away with it if they were ignorant children. The news media than attacked Kavanaugh that even though he was against abortions he supported sexual assault. The New Yorker closed their article stating “Men are so afraid” but then state men shouldn’t be afraid if they have Kavanaugh on their side. This inference is set to not only attack Kavanaugh for the rumors that have now characterized him but politicians in general.

An important finding made by Eugene Kanin is that Women only report intercourse. He stated, “not one complaint mentions forced oral or anal sex.” (Kanin), but these forms of sexual assault are supposedly quite common. He claimed that it is socially more prudent for the women to minimize humiliation from oral or anal sex than regular intercourse. He accounts that this has previously been observed by two men named McDowell and Hibler in 1987. He mentions the lack of cases against police sexual assault and phantastica assaults. He concludes his finding by arising a future research topic for readers, which is falsely convicted sexual assault victims. He states he could not find much data on these cases and that he would not comment on them in his research because of the lack of data regarding convicted individuals who were innocent.

Kanin characterizes all the reasons for false sexual assault accusations as Alib, revenge, and attention. Kanin found fifty six percent of false sexual assault claims regarding unfortunate consequences of the encountered and this could range from an acquired std to unexpected pregnancy. He found that twenty-seven percent were from past relationships and this ranges from a simple argument to leaving the woman with a child. Lastly, he found that about eighteen percent were because girls, usually under eighteen, were looking for attention. Many findings were because the child's parents did not give the child enough sympathy or attention and they knew this would result in the parent finally paying attention to the child.. Many news stations assumed he had raped and sexually assaulted countless women, but in the end, he was proven innocent. The trial lasted weeks and ended when the woman that accused him admitted to lying. Although the news articles could have talk about the fact the woman was wrong, the news decided to continue attacking

Kavanaugh for sexual assault or promoting sexual assault. The New Yorker wrote an article implying through their diction that Kavanaugh supported sexual assault and inferred men can get away with it if they were ignorant children. The news media than attacked Kavanaugh that even though he was against abortions he supported sexual assault. The New Yorker closed their article stating “Men are so afraid” but then state men shouldn’t be afraid if they have Kavanaugh on their side. This inference is set to not only attack Kavanaugh for the rumors that have now characterized him but politicians in general.

An important finding made by Eugene Kanin is that Women only report intercourse. He stated, “not one complaint mentions forced oral or anal sex.” (Kanin), but these forms of sexual assault are supposedly quite common. He claimed that it is socially more prudent for the women to minimize humiliation from oral or anal sex than regular intercourse. He accounts that this has previously been observed by two men named McDowell and Hibler in 1987. He mentions the lack of cases against police sexual assault and phantastica assaults. He concludes his finding by arising a future research topic for readers, which is falsely convicted sexual assault victims. He states he could not find much data on these cases and that he would not comment on them in his research because of the lack of data regarding convicted individuals who were innocent.

Kanin characterizes all the reasons for false sexual assault accusations as Alib, revenge, and attention. Kanin found fifty six percent of false sexual assault claims regarding unfortunate consequences of the encountered and this could range from an acquired std to unexpected pregnancy. He found that twenty-seven percent were from past relationships and this ranges from a simple argument to leaving the woman with a child. Lastly, he found that about eighteen percent were because girls, usually under eighteen, were looking for attention. Many findings were because the child's parents did not give the child enough sympathy or attention and they knew this would result in the parent finally paying attention to the child.

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