The pop music magazine that practically invented “edgy” long form reporting is about to get bitten by its own … well … no one is really sure what to call this colossal blunder. The apparently systematic mistakes made in relation to the University of Virginia “rape story” will haunt the publication for a very long time.

Quick review: A Rolling Stone reporter heard about a “rape” on the campus, so she followed up. After interviewing the “victim” and doing the complete opposite of actual investigative journalism, she sent Rolling Stone the article…which they loved. Unfortunately, no one did any fact checking. They just ran with a story that defamed a school, a fraternity, and a bunch of college kids. Major problem – it was all fabricated.

Now, everyone knows…so what happens next? Well, Columbia Journalism Review has released a report on the events and the fallout. Given their findings, Rolling Stone, and their crack reporter plan to do … well, saying “very little” would be generous.

According to the reporter, the magazine’s owner Jann Wenner said the duped writer, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, is keeping her job. As for Erdely, she is blaming the victim, saying, “I allowed my concern for Jackie’s well-being and my confidence in her credibility to take the place of more questioning and more facts.”

Right, so the supposed victim’s phantom credibility caused you not to do your job? This should be a huge red flag. Activism and compassion are fine – laudable, in fact – but this is journalism. People will lie to you all the time. They do it because they want to hide something. They do it for fame. Sometimes they do it for no reason at all. They just … do. That’s part and parcel of the media business and life in the real world.

Now, that’s not to say people can’t be duped. It does happen, and it can catch even the best off guard. But to not question any aspect of a story that could destroy the lives of countless people? Well, that’s not activism or naiveté. That’s a visceral disregard for the basics of journalism, which has no place in legitimate journalism.

And that’s why this is Rolling Stone’s problem too. Not because they published a story they thought was true, but because every reporter, editor and manager published a story because they wanted it to be true. While the court’s will decide who’s legally to blame, the magazine had a system in place that caused this…and they don’t seem too interested in addressing that problem. That’s what confirmation bias is – you stop asking questions when you get the reality you want.

5WPR CEO Ronn Torossian is a life long New Yorker and a Public Relations Executive.