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'This American Life' retracts its iPad factory report: the full story

This American Life has retracted an episode that focused on working conditions inside a Foxconn iPad factory, calling the source material "partially fabricated." The episode depended largely on details provided by a theatrical show by Mike Daisey, who apparently misled TAL and others.

  • T.C. Sottek

    Mar 27, 2012

    T.C. Sottek

    Mike Daisey issues first actual apology for his monologue, says he 'violated trust'

    Daisey roses (SHUTTERSTOCK)
    Daisey roses (SHUTTERSTOCK)

    In a new blog post, besmirched playwright Mike Daisey apologizes for the methods behind his controversial monologue about Foxconn's iPad factories, and says that "when I said onstage that I had personally experienced things I in fact did not, I failed to honor the contract I'd established with my audiences over many years." Daisey adds that "in doing so, I not only violated their trust, I also made worse art." Daisey was pelted by the media after This American Life retracted an episode that was partially based on Daisey's monologue, which has been gutted by fact-checkers that found his claims about interviewing Foxconn workers in China dubious at best. While others have defended Daisey's work, including Steve Wozniak and Daisey himself, it's now quite clear that Daisey fabricated facts, regardless of any interpretation of artistic license.

    In this latest confession, Daisey apologizes to his audience, his colleagues in the theatre, to human rights advocates, and to journalists. He says that "things came out of my mouth that just weren't true, and over time, I couldn't even hear the difference myself." So is this the final act in Daisey's wearisome apology? It's hard to tell, but if history is any indication, we won't be surprised if there's an encore.

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  • Bryan Bishop

    Mar 19, 2012

    Bryan Bishop

    Steve Wozniak comes out in support of Mike Daisey, says 'his method succeeded'

    Steve Wozniak image from Flickr
    Steve Wozniak image from Flickr

    The furor over performance artist Mike Daisey's misrepresentation of facts in an episode of This American Life has led to a retraction from TAL and a back-and-forth between all parties involved — but one individual that's standing by Daisey is Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. In an interview with CNET today, Woz stated that he thought Daisey's work was a positive force that had steered the public conversation in the right direction, comparing it to informative political satire like The Colbert Report and The Daily Show. "I think his monologue has influenced Apple to take steps in that direction the best they can," Wozniak said of Daisey. "Because people must know there are workers who can't get medical coverage and are underage and are put on a blacklist that prevents them from getting work again."

    Of course, Daisy's allegation of underage workers at Foxconn is one of the very points that was discredited by his own translator, according to Marketplace report Rob Schmitz. Additionally, much of the uproar has not been directed towards Daisey's monologue itself, but rather the misrepresentation of certain fictional elements as fact in both the TAL piece as well as in a now-redacted editorial for the New York Times. That said, the need for further investigation into Foxconn — and factory working conditions for the consumer electronics industry as a whole — remains quite clear.

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  • T.C. Sottek

    Mar 19, 2012

    T.C. Sottek

    Foxconn 'glad that Mike Daisey's lies were exposed,' but Daisey says his comments were 'taken out of context'

    foxconn apple logo overlay
    foxconn apple logo overlay

    Soon after Daisey's apparent backpedaling, and This American Life's concerted effort to repair its credibility, Foxconn pounced on the opportunity to discredit negative claims about its working conditions. Foxconn spokesperson Louis Woo tells Bloomberg Businesweek that "I am happy that the truth prevails, I am glad that Mike Daisey's lies were exposed," and that "people will have the impression that Foxconn is a bad company, so I hope they will come and find out for themselves." Of course, the validity of Daisey's claims are not a monopoly on the truth, and critics say that the retraction of his monologue does not clear Foxconn of wrongdoing.

    A spokesperson for the China Labor Bulletin (CLB) tells Reuters that workers at Foxconn are still subject to poor working conditions including long working hours, strict management with borderline abusive practices, and unsafe work practices in some factories. He says that "all those things are very much in place. I don't think there's been any alleviation (of these problems) in the past few months. I don't think Foxconn's done anything, really." Meanwhile, Foxconn spokesperson Woo says that "I don't think the reports about this have gone far enough to find out exactly what is the truth." On that, it seems, many can agree.

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  • Sean Hollister

    Mar 17, 2012

    Sean Hollister

    Full audio: Mike Daisey explains himself on new episode of 'This American Life'

    this-american-life-placeholder
    this-american-life-placeholder

    Earlier today, the radio show This American Life and The New York Times retracted first-hand reports by Mike Daisey about the conditions at factories making iPads in China. While the Times simply removed a paragraph from an editorial by Daisey, the producers of This American Life dedicated an entire new episode to revealing the truth behind the alleged lies. That episode is now online. The show invited Mike Daisey to explain himself, and Marketplace reporter Rob Schmitz to document how factchecking Daisey's story with his Chinese translator, Cathy, led to the retractions to begin with. You can find the full MP3 audio and PDF transcript of that new episode at our source links below.

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  • Bryan Bishop

    Mar 16, 2012

    Bryan Bishop

    NYT removes disputed Foxconn details from Mike Daisey op-ed in wake of 'This American Life' retraction

    mikedaisey - image credit stan borouh
    mikedaisey - image credit stan borouh

    This American Life made waves this morning when it announced it was retracting its episode about Foxconn's factories because performance artist Mike Daisey misrepresented several facts to the program. The announcement seems to have started a chain reaction, with the New York Times removing a paragraph from an opinion piece Daisey wrote after the passing of Steve Jobs last year. Entitled "Against Nostalgia," the piece originally contained references to Daisey meeting a man whose hand had been mangled while manufacturing iPads — an encounter that is now understood to have been completely fabricated. The New York Times has appended the article with an explanation for the change:

    This American Life will be airing an episode centered around the retraction this evening.

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  • Laura June

    Mar 16, 2012

    Laura June

    Excerpts from 'This American Life' on Mike Daisey: 'Why not just tell us what really happened?'

    mike daisey
    mike daisey

    We've received an early transcript of the episode of This American Life which will air this evening at 8:00PM ET entitled "Retraction." The episode features Mike Daisey, whose previous appearance on TAL was a dramatic monologue he has been performing since 2010 about workers at the Chinese factory which produces, among many other things, Apple products. Mike has gained a lot of attention for his work which has in turn brought much attention to the plight of the Chinese workers who toil to produce electronics. However, as this new episode makes clear, not everything Mike Daisey said in his performance was technically or even, in some instances, close to -- the truth.

    The transcript of the show reveals more details that Mike Daisey seemingly lied about or misrepresented, forcing This American Life to retract its support for the episode. "Retraction" features host Ira Glass, Mike Daisey, Marketplace reporter Rob Schmitz, whose further factchecking of the episode after its original airing led to the retraction, and Mike Daisey's translator, Cathy, who accompanied Mike on his trip to Foxconn.

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  • Nilay Patel

    Mar 16, 2012

    Nilay Patel

    'This American Life' retracts episode about Foxconn's iPad factories, says it was 'partially fabricated'

    mike daisey
    mike daisey

    This American Life has retracted an episode that focused on working conditions inside a Foxconn iPad factory, calling the source material "partially fabricated." The episode — the most popular in TAL history with nearly a million streams — was partially based on the work of artist Mike Daisey, who apparently lied to fact-checkers about his experiences visiting Foxconn's facility. Some of the lies were discovered during an interview with Daisey's Chinese translator, who disputed the facts presented in his show and on the air.

    A new episode of This American Life detailing the issues and what happened airs later today, with an MP3 of the broadcast available Sunday. Host Ira Glass is taking full responsibility for the error, saying that he's "horrified to have let something like this onto public radio."

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  • Jesse Hicks

    Jan 9, 2012

    Jesse Hicks

    This American Life goes inside an Apple factory

    Monologuist Mike Daisey has won wide acclaim for his show "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," now playing in New York City. In it, Daisey narrates his complex relationship with Apple products: once a self-described "worshipper in the cult of Mac," he wondered about the origins of those sleek objects of desire. He followed the story to China and was appalled by what found; that trip formed the basis of his monologue. This American Life picked up the story there, and the episode's second act fact-checks his claims, drawing on, among other sources, interviews with Foxconn workers.

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