'This American Life' retracts its Foxconn story

[Newsjock]

Last edited Sat Mar 17, 2012, 01:29 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/business/2012/03/american-life-has-retracted-its-foxconn-story/49999/

This American Life just retracted "Mike Daisey Goes to the Apple Factory," the story that arguably started the recent spate of articles examining Apple manufacturer Foxconn, because an NPR reporter raised doubts about it. Chicago Public Media has a statement outlining the problems with the story, and Daisey has posted a statement of his own on his blog, which we picked up via Business Insider.

CPM says Daisey told its producers that he didn't have contact information for the interpreter he used while researching the story. But Marketplace reporter Rob Schmitz tracked her down after he recognized the names of people he'd interviewed for his own reporting, 1,000 miles away in a city called Suzhou. "I’ve interviewed these workers, so I knew the story. And when I heard Daisey’s monologue on the radio, I wondered: How’d they get all the way down to Shenzhen? It seemed crazy, that somehow Daisey could’ve met a few of them during his trip," Schmitz said, according to the statement. This American Life staffers asked Daisey for his interpreter's contact information, the CPM statement says, but he told them her cell phone didn't work, and he gave an incorrect name.

... Daisey, for his part, says his work was one of theater, not journalism, and the mistake was his for allowing This American Life to broadcast it as the latter.

[bullwinkle428]

1. Chris Hayes has had Daisey on as a guest at least twice recently on his weekend show,

so I would imagine he will probably address this issue, perhaps this coming weekend.

[joshcryer]

2. Says he made up the part about alking to poisoned workers. Claims theatrical embellishment, etc.

The translator cannot be fully trusted on this either, because she could've been just as easily paid off.

Here's his blog: http://mikedaisey.blogspot.com/

"This American Life" has raised questions about the adaptation of AGONY/ECSTASY we created for their program. Here is my response:

I stand by my work. My show is a theatrical piece whose goal is to create a human connection between our gorgeous devices and the brutal circumstances from which they emerge. It uses a combination of fact, memoir, and dramatic license to tell its story, and I believe it does so with integrity. Certainly, the comprehensive investigations undertaken by The New York Times and a number of labor rights groups to document conditions in electronics manufacturing would seem to bear this out.

What I do is not journalism. The tools of the theater are not the same as the tools of journalism. For this reason, I regret that I allowed THIS AMERICAN LIFE to air an excerpt from my monologue. THIS AMERICAN LIFE is essentially a journalistic - not a theatrical - enterprise, and as such it operates under a different set of rules and expectations. But this is my only regret. I am proud that my work seems to have sparked a growing storm of attention and concern over the often appalling conditions under which many of the high-tech products we love so much are assembled in China.

Of course, this story from a few days ago I didn't see discussed here: http://www.npr.org/2012/03/12/148421415/apple-workers-plant-inspected-hours-before-blast

But I expect, highly, that this retraction will be championed by Apple fans.

[shcrane71]

6. I dunno... the other NPR story (from the NY Times) seems to indicate that

there are still worker rights violations happening in China.

It's not just Apple, but Apple is making one of the biggest profits off of cheap labor.

[joshcryer]

7. Most of my criticisms didn't rely on Daisey's information.

The fact that they could easily get paid 3-6x what they get paid. The fact that Apple is the most profitable company on the planet, with the highest margins of anyone, etc.

The underage workers thing is not just from Mike Daisey, nor are the chemical complaints. He just embellished them, put them into his performance.

[Nye Bevan]

4. Good. No more feeling guilty about my iPhone (nt)

[jsmirman]

5. How do you come to that conclusion from this

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/12/148421415/apple-workers-plant-inspected-hours-before-blast

I don't know. Do you really mean that? Or was this a joke?

We'll never agree, so you can write your "this means Apple is blameless post" and I'm not getting into a day long argument about it.

But doesn't this reflect much more on Daisey than it does on all the other information that is out there about Foxconn and Apple?

[Pholus]

8. It is unfortunate that Daisey felt he had to embellish his experiences for effect.

However, to re-echo joshcryer the body of work discussion the problems are much larger than daisey's observations.

That will of course not stop the Cult of Apple from trying to claim that this invalidates all negative publicity for their poor widdle company.