In publishing a recent story about the North Carolina pork industry, Rolling Stone magazine got it wrong on the small things – and the large.
They got wrong what the top county in the state is for hogs and pigs.
They got wrong the basics of legislation.
They got wrong, in one passage, the type of barn, the number of pigs and the size of the lagoon at one farm.
It goes on.
Basics.
But, worse, they also missed on the big stuff.
They falsely said China is outsourcing its pork production to North Carolina. Not even close.
They falsely asserted that regulation of hog farms is lax in North Carolina, which has the toughest rules in the nation for hog farms.
They misstated and misrepresented the amount of manure that hogs and pigs produce, and how the manure is used.
They falsely reported that hog farms are in minority areas – when they knew otherwise.
They ignored health data that contradicts what they reported.
It goes on.
We previously explained here how the entire thrust of the story was off.
And, there are significant questions about the preparation of the story and its funding.
Rolling Stone is refusing to correct even one of its basic errors, much less address the more fundamental problems with the story.
We asked them to respond to a point-by-point list of the errors. They’ve refused.
We asked them to correct their errors or to assert there were none. They’ve refused.
An editor at the magazine wrote in an email response that the story was “supported by the facts and available data.”
Study that phrasing closely.
That response is as deceptive as the story itself.
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Here’s our letter: Rolling Stone Letter from NC Pork Council March 23
Here’s their response: Rolling Stone Response to Pork Council March 29