Aaron Sorkin, creator and writer of HBO series "The Newsroom," has stirred considerable backlash from critics and viewers after the latest episode aired Sunday night.

In a dark coincidence, Sorkin's storyline felt closely related to a recent article in Rolling Stone magazine about a gang rape accusation at the University of Virginia. The fictional episode touched on issues of the public, journalism ethics and the legal system's lack of response to rape allegations on college campuses.

Sorkin's presentation of this culmination did not sit well with some critics, who felt he relied on disparaging the credibility of rape victims.

The show creator defended himself Monday, as he said the plotline was meant to be thought-provoking, as he tries to make much of his work.

"Most of the time the conflict on the show is about ideas, and frequently those conflicts stoke a lot of passionate debate in the days that follow a broadcast," he said in an interview with Huffington Post, conducted by email. "I understood going in that there would be backlash -- some of it thoughtful, some of it less so -- but that's a bad reason not to write something."

In the episode in question, Don Keefer, a TV news producer, finds a college student who started a website to allow victims to anonymously name their attackers. He was told to convince her to go on live television to confront a man she had accused. While Keefer said he believed the young woman, he claimed her site was unfair, accusing men without any sense of what he deemed fair.

The producer said he felt "morally obligated" not to name a person who hadn't been formally found guilty of a crime, according to The New York Times. These words reportedly caused much of the criticism, as one of the show's writers, Alena Smith, said she was kicked out of the writers' room for objecting to the plot's message.

The TV critic for the New Yorker, Emily Nussbaum, said the character "argues that the idealistic thing to do is not to believe her story."

Sorkin argued that the story is designed so the student "would have our sympathy,"

"The two men she accuses are kept off screen," he explained according to The New York Times. "I cast a great actress who feels like our sister, our daughter, our roommate. I did everything I could to make it difficult not to believe her so that Don's declaration that he's obligated to believe 'the sketchy guy' would be excruciating."

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