I don't think his monologue led to the Nightline investigation or the NY Times articles.
It's too bad he made stuff up for dramatic purpose, I'm sure the piece would have been good with just the truth.
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'This American Life' Retracts Show on Foxconn Working Conditions over Fabricated Claims
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I don't think his monologue led to the Nightline investigation or the NY Times articles.
It's too bad he made stuff up for dramatic purpose, I'm sure the piece would have been good with just the truth.
Very true. A lot of public radio stations run the program along with NPR programming, but they are not from the same production source.
Another thing Daisey got wrong is that "This American Life" is not journalism, no matter what the producers claim. You might as well call "A Prairie Home Companion" journalism. It's essentially entertainment. I wonder how many people commenting on this thread have actually listed to this program. I have, many times. It strives to be cute and entertaining, not factual and accurate. I would never mistake this program for journalism, even if I liked it, which I don't. I think it's the "This American Life" producers who are in more in need of getting their story straight than Daisey.
When will people learn that EVERYTHING presented on TV, radio, internet, or print is theatrical. There is no money to be made in Journalism these days, so there is absolutely no chance of getting any. Every second of every article or broadcast is 100% about ratings, and you can't get decent ratings by presenting the truth. The truth has to be spun and exagerated to get people's attention.
I'm not condoning his actions, but having listened to the podcast a few weeks ago I never got the impression he was trying to throw Apple under the bus.
Completely agree, I also thought Bill Maher was quite the moron, sitting there, lapping up everything the guy said and taking him to task on nothing.
I guess the thing is, regardless of whether it is 'journalism', there's no need for misrepresentation of the facts.
dramatic license and integrity don't belong together in same sentence
Of course they're not one is about truth and facts, the other comes from someone's imagination and has little to do with reality.
I think Apple and Foxconn should sue this guy and This American Life for all they're worth.
Of course they're not one is about truth and facts, the other comes from someone's imagination and has little to do with reality.
I think Apple and Foxconn should sue this guy and This American Life for all they're worth.
what-a Prick!
he presented himself as someone who had first-hand and second-hand knowledge; and he conveyed himself to the public, a journalist.
is there any other way to express his forked-tongue nature, and arrogance of this man without using explicative?
Not a chance. If he spoke only the truth, it would have wound up on the editing room floor. Only wildly interpreted, spun, sensationalized, and dramatized material makes it onto the air.
I was in the business for 22 years, and got out because I could no longer live with myself knowing what I was doing in order to make a buck. Number one question is, Will what we present make our audience want to return to us for more instead of going to the competition? If you dont drive their return through emotion (sex, exaggeration, dramatization, narrow one-sided perspective, etc.) they simply wont come back. Since theres no emotion in true journalism, its dead and long gone.
Careful with that. Storytellers have never been held to that standard. Storytelling is how I'd describe "This American Life," and how I'd describe the Daisey piece, which I have heard. Literary and journalistic standards are very different. Just because the producers of "This American Life" get carried away with themselves doesn't mean that they are right to call the program journalism. In fact I'd say they've been asking for this kind of embarrassment for years. The only surprise is that it didn't happen sooner.
SHAME ON NPR FOR AIRING THIS........ Shame on this fat bastard too for trying to make a name for himself too.
Shame on NPR? If This American Life hadn't have aired the retraction you never would have known about this. Kudos to them for having such integrity. NPR doesn't have anything to do with it.
Whoops...TAL -- probably my favorite radio show and poscast -- got suckered there. I guess it's good that they admit it, but still.
I'm looking forward to their exposé and hope they don't spare themselves.
By the way, Daisey is lying again: TAL *is* a theactrical show and quite often presents fiction and tall tales, "as-told-by" stories (and semi-true) as well as journalistic pieces.
I'm looking forward to their exposé and hope they don't spare themselves.
By the way, Daisey is lying again: TAL *is* a theactrical show and quite often presents fiction and tall tales, "as-told-by" stories (and semi-true) as well as journalistic pieces.
Except that he did more harm than good. In fact, he sold off the plight of the workers so he could make a name for himself.
Now people will be suspicious of anything they hear about workers' conditions there.
When he appeared on Bill Maher's show, he talked about details about how he was there, what actual human beings who worked there TOLD him about conditions. He didn't present it as theater or art. He presented it as reporting.
And Bill Maher is a hypocrite now for not having fact-checked all that and swallowing it without questioning it or challenging any of it.
Still, they should have checked their sources before airing it (like they admitted which as you said does deserve some kudos).
you know, he says he is proud that his work brought this stuff to light.
But he was very short sighted if that is really what he wanted to do. Because when people found out it was an exageration or lie, they are prone to discount even the real stuff he says. They'll feel duped and even more skeptical even if some one else comes up with something more real. And they'll use him as a reason not to believe or listen to it.
He only has harmed what he claims is his cause.
But he was very short sighted if that is really what he wanted to do. Because when people found out it was an exageration or lie, they are prone to discount even the real stuff he says. They'll feel duped and even more skeptical even if some one else comes up with something more real. And they'll use him as a reason not to believe or listen to it.
He only has harmed what he claims is his cause.
Defamation
I also saw this guy on Bill Maher and BM just soaked it in like it was all fact which was ironic since he has praised Apple for doing better work then the government in the past (for once he was right on something).
Unless we want to pay 2000.00 for an iPhone, these factories need to exist. Meanwhile, there are lines of people waiting to work at them in China.
I also saw this guy on Bill Maher and BM just soaked it in like it was all fact which was ironic since he has praised Apple for doing better work then the government in the past (for once he was right on something).
Unless we want to pay 2000.00 for an iPhone, these factories need to exist. Meanwhile, there are lines of people waiting to work at them in China.
I like the show tremendously when it's entertainment and almost invariably dislike it when they do a "hard" story.
The "Squirrel Cop" episode from years ago (available here) is about as good as it gets.
I get your point. But they guy was recounting a trip to China to interview Foxconn workers. I understand he is a 'storyteller' but at the same time I'm sure NPR would not have run it had they known what they know now.
I'm not that critical of Daisey myself, and I never got the impression he was out to get Apple.
I'm not saying what the standard is or should be, but am not surprised at NPR's response to all of this I guess. It would be a lot different if there were factual errors discovered in some adults re-telling of his summer camp back in 1957 in Lake Obowogoeee.
EDIT- I think it's going to be hard to draw any opinion about this until we've heard the full follow-up episode. The other thing here is not about TAM or Daisey's show, but that this guy has been making the interview rounds. What has he said in these interviews? To subsequently claim things in these interviews as facts rather than 'dramatizations' is taking it to another level IMO (for example if he tells a MSNC interviewer that he really met these workers poisoned by n-hexane.)
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Exactly. I still remember a show they did years ago about about Canadians. It was hilarious. But journalism? Give me a break. They seem to be confused about their mission, so no wonder this happened to them. I actually have no real problem with Daisey's piece, so long as it's treated for what it is, first-person expository storytelling. That's exactly what I expect to hear on TAL anyway.
In general I see your point. But there is so much interesting material and interest in this whole Foxconn thing already.
What complicates things here IMO is that the original monologue and story were not done by TAM people. Had Ira Glass gone to China to talk to Foxconn employees, I think it would have come out differently. Not saying certain things wouldn't be trimmed and tweaked for radio, but I am guessing it would have been different. If you think differently based on your experience, I am interested in hearing your response-
Well put. Seriously, you can't keep your job as a journalist if you lie, especially about something that affects so many people.
Maybe a lawyer can file a class-action lawsuit for all of the attendees of Daisey's fraudulent show.
They can claim emotional damage or maybe just a bad value for the fake story.
They can claim emotional damage or maybe just a bad value for the fake story.