An interesting coincidence - NPR is underwritten by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I wonder if Gates helped fund this show in particular?
This American Life Retracting "Mr. Daisey & The Apple Factory"
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Re: This American Life Retracting "Mr. Daisey & The Apple Factory"
#22What's really tragic here is that the truth in Mr. Daisey's story will get dragged down by the weight of his lies.
Chinese factory conditions are often horrible, and there's often a blatant disregard for human life and dignity. Mr. Daisey did a pretty good job of conveying these ideas in a way that well-heeled westerners could understand at a gut level.
However, his pursuit of storytelling over journalism is going to destroy all that. People are going to (rightfully) pitch the fact out along with the fiction, because there's no way to distinguish the two.
It just makes me sad.
Re: This American Life Retracting "Mr. Daisey & The Apple Factory"
#23I haven't listened to this episode yet (I am about 40 behind) but it seems that a lot of these claims could have been debunked with a few emails to people on the ground in Shenzen.
It would be interesting if TAL (or others) would gather together a group of experts who are connected in various industries and bounce stories off of them before publishing.
This could even be a startup idea - a marketplace of experts and connected people for the purpose of fact checking. We live in a super-connected society where 'stories from China' should be easy to debunk.
Re: This American Life Retracting "Mr. Daisey & The Apple Factory"
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
"It uses a combination of fact, memoir, and dramatic license to tell its story, and I believe it does so with integrity". There is no integrity in lying to fact checkers to ensure your piece gets on the air. Shafer: [...] But what joins D’Agata and Capote is this: Both love “real” facts, but when blocked by journalistic convention from the literary effects they desire, they willingly leapt that fence to create whatev…
the last time I heard a similar line was from Ben Mezrich, the guy who wrote 'accidental billionares' about Facebook.
Even the response is dishonest. "I'm sorry I allowed TAL to run an except from my story". The guy lied to fact-checkers to get the story on the air. There's nothing passive about that. Nothing he says is trustworthy.
Re: This American Life Retracting "Mr. Daisey & The Apple Factory"
#25Anyone who's ever spent more than a couple days in China (or HK, or Singapore, or Taiwan, really) can tell you that very, very little of what you see published about China/Chinese people in the western media is accurate. Much of it is hyperbole or selective truths or just downright fabrications.
It's designed for a western audience and plays on assumptions and stereotypes that exist of China/Chinese people - apart from interviews with serious professionals or scholars who have spent time there (like on Charlie Rose) you're bound to be left with a very distorted view of what "China" is (and isn't).
How do you describe one quarter of the entire population of earth in any sort of accurate way? It's impossible, but it sure does sell copy when you try.
Re: This American Life Retracting "Mr. Daisey & The Apple Factory"
#26From a naive viewpoint: Why is all this reporting about factory conditions focus on Apple, i.e. Foxconn? Is there proof that factories operated by Foxconn are worse than the typical Chinese factory? Or is Apple pushing them to Draconian measures, e.g. guards with guns, child workers, etc.?
How's this any different from any other Made in China electronics product?
EDIT: The replies are aligned with what I was thinking: If anything, Foxcon is above average in factory conditions. The major reason for the Apple focus is because of its high visibility.
I despise this easy targetism! I felt the same while watching Supersize Me, which focused on McDonalds, and some of Michael Moore's films. The basic premise may be correct, but selecting targets to ride on their name (McDonalds, Walmart, Apple) is an easy tactic and in fact puts off the critical thinking people who resist the manipulation (well, at least it puts me off). And what's more, in most of these cases the (more naive) audience is led to believe that the situation is this specific company's fault, leading to behavior like "Man, I'm never gonna eat another BigMac, will go to Burger King instead".
Re: This American Life Retracting "Mr. Daisey & The Apple Factory"
#27What's really tragic here is that the truth in Mr. Daisey's story will get dragged down by the weight of his lies. Chinese factory conditions are often horrible, and there's often a blatant disregard for human life and dignity. Mr. Daisey did a pretty good job of conveying these ideas in a way that well-heeled westerners could understand at a gut level. However, his pursuit of storytelling over journalism is going to…
I was more forgiving until I read in Ira's letter that he had invented the workers who were injured in the factory. That is a big fabrication and more than just pulling our emotional heart strings.
Apparently child labour is much less rampant than he makes it sound. It seems like he more of a dilettante trying to grab attention and get noticed more than he is interested in labour standards.
Re: This American Life Retracting "Mr. Daisey & The Apple Factory"
#28I'm a Chicago Public Radio member and just got this in my email. Wow: I’m writing to tell you that tonight, This American Life and Marketplace will reveal that a story that we broadcast on This American Life this past January contained significant fabrications. We’re retracting that story because we can’t vouch for its truth, and this weekend's episode of our show will detail the errors in the story, which was an exc…
Just writing that email at all puts This American Life in very small journalistic company.
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Re: This American Life Retracting "Mr. Daisey & The Apple Factory"
#29from http://www.marketplace.org/topics/life/ieconomy/acclaimed-ap... : I pressed Cathy to confirm other key details that Daisey reported. Did the guards have guns when you came here with Mike Daisey? With each question I got the same answer from Lee. “No,” or “This is not true.” Daisey claims he met underage workers at Foxconn. He says he talked to a man whose hand was twisted into a claw from making iPads. He descri…
This is the thing that really bugs me. It was a well told story. I can even buy that it gets at a larger truth (even if the details are exaggerated or even invented). But then don't pretend like it's 100% literal truth. And then TAL made such a point of the fact checking when they broadcast their version. Oof.
Re: This American Life Retracting "Mr. Daisey & The Apple Factory"
#30This is certainly going to turn out in an interesting way. So far, the main thing being questioned is apparently the people he met, and while that is important to his integrity, it doesn't affect the story of the factory workers. I'm going to listen very intently to this episode. Is he telling what could be true, or is he the worst kind of liar, manufacturing controversy?
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