Lies, Retractions and This American Life

Mike Daisey

In January I heard an episode of This American Life called “Mr Daisey and the Apple Factory”. Mike Daisey – a theatre monologist, writer and self-confessed Apple devotee – narrated the details of a trip that he made to China. He toured factories making Apple products, primarily those owned by Foxconn. He said that he spoke to numerous workers and heard first hand accounts of terrible working conditions.

It was a captivating and compelling piece of radio. It personalised of the ordeals suffered by Chinese factory workers that are often only given a passing level of consideration in the news – highlighting our connection to their lives by focusing on a brand that we all know.
                       

However, a journalist based in China thought that several aspects of the narrative sounded odd, such as Daisey’s claim that he saw factory guards with guns (in China only the military and the police can carry firearms). He tracked down Daisey’s Chinese interpreter, who disputed several aspects of Daisey’s account.

As a result This American Life pulled the show from their website and issued a statement:

“I have difficult news. We've learned that Mike Daisey's story about Apple in China - which we broadcast in January - contained significant fabrications. We're retracting the story because we can’t vouch for its truth.”
“The China correspondent for the public radio show Marketplace tracked down the interpreter that Daisey hired when he visited Shenzhen China. The interpreter disputed much of what Daisey has been saying on stage and on our show.”
“Daisey lied to me and to This American Life producer Brian Reed during the fact checking we did on the story, before it was broadcast. That doesn't excuse the fact that we never should've put this on the air. In the end, this was our mistake.”


The full statement can be read here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/blog/2012/03/retracting-mr-daisey-and-the-apple-factory

In addition to this statement This American Life made a one hour long ‘Retraction’ episode, which is even more interesting than the original show. It’s well worth hearing in full (even if you haven’t heard the original piece), but I suggest that you at least listen to the first four minutes, where Ira Glass issues an apology:

Ira Glass

It was a fascinating episode, since they interviewed Mike Daisey himself, putting to him that he lied to them. Ira Glass proved himself to be a formidable interviewer, pinning Daisey down with the facts, exposing the fabrications and conveying that he was really pissed off without losing his temper.

There are lots of awkward silences, which really hold the audience on edge and make Daisey look the fool. Daisey’s defence…. he didn’t give an account that was up to journalistic standards of truth, but what he does is theatre not journalism. Daisey reiterated his “it’s theatre, so it doesn't have to be true” defence in this 3 minute prologue to his subsequent shows.

https://sites.google.com/site/mp3hostshauntey/mike-daisey-this-american-life/prologue.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1

What was interesting about this retraction was the way Ira Glass expressed that public radio had a strong reputation for accurate journalism. There are strong parallels with the values of the BBC in the belief that non-commercial radio must hold itself to a higher standard. Ira Glass appeared to be concerned for the reputation of American public radio as a whole and not just his show.

Something which is important to consider is that the journalistic integrity of the original episode held up. The This American Life team cross checked the allegations against Apple and laid out the evidence during a 20 minute segment of the original show, which scrutinised Daisey’s account. They found objective evidence that verified the allegations that Daisey made against Apple, mostly using Apple’s own internal audits. There are numerous other accounts of terrible working conditions and suppression of trade unions in China. Journalistically This American Life already had their backs covered. This retraction proved the show to have an extra commitment to integrity. Furthermore, its exploration of the conflict between journalism and art made great radio.

You can hear a full stream and read more about the controversy at: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/460/retraction