This American Life retracts Apple Factory "Report"

[Xairbusdriver]

<Who is Mike Daisy, anyway?> I don't usually listen to this program, never have considered it a "news" show, but it appears they have at least some 'news' show ethics (not sure I'd use that term in discussing any major network 'news' show, however).

Still, just as in politics, we get what we deserve. If we don't hold Apple to high standards, they will stoop as low as any other company.

[gunug]

I have listened to "This American Life" quite a bit over the years and while I considered it to be a "think" piece format rather than a source for hard news there should've been some checking done for sure.  I'm not sure what Mike Daisey thought he had to gain from this little jaunt in to fiction but I think in my case I'm going to assume that stories on this show might be subject to the sniff test or verification via other sources.

Oh my, after my initial reply above I read this:

QUOTE

everything I have done in making this monologue for the theater has been toward that end – to make people care. I'm not going to say that I didn't take a few shortcuts in my passion to be heard. But I stand behind the work.

    My mistake, the mistake that I truly regret is that I had it on your show as journalism and it's not journalism. It's theater. I use the tools of theater and memoir to achieve its dramatic arc and of that arc and of that work I am very proud because I think it made you care, Ira, and I think it made you want to delve. And my hope is that it makes – has made- other people delve.

-- http://podcast.thisamericanlife.org/specia..._Transcript.pdf

So it was "theatre" and we should've known that!

[Xairbusdriver]

Interesting article by <Glenn Fleishman> at Macworld, many good comments, also.

[dboh]

This is similar to the kerfluffle over James Frey's  memoir whose title I've forgotten. It turned out he'd made lots of it up, and back then, memoirs were presumed to be factual reminiscences. Like Frey, Daisey seems more regretful that he'd been caught out than that he'd misrepresented. While the truth is bad enough, he couldn't resist embellishing for dramatic effect. Every day, there's less and less that can be taken at face value.

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

Every day, there's less and less that can be taken at face value.

I think that is because fewer people respect their own "face value." Most "con men" don't even respect themselves, so they have no problem with their 'profession.'