Mike Daisey: Some Thoughts After The Storm
mikedaisey.blogspot.com
mikedaisey.blogspot.com
However, he still falls short of apologizing to Foxconn or Apple for slandering them in the pursuit of making a name for himself.
He can apologize to his audiences and "The theatre" all he wants. Until he apologizes to his actual victims, he's still a first class scum bag in my book.
I stepped up to defend Mike Daisey here and in other places, largely because of my respect for This American Life and the way they take journalism seriously. If Ira Glass tells me he's fact-checked something, then I'm going to believe it.
So I'm glad to see he's being more contrite these days, but I agree that he's falling short of what he needs to do.
I am no psychologist, but listening to his 'apology' gave me a strong sense that he was playacting a role of someone who sought forgiveness. He had these dramatic pauses that seemed forced, and was dancing around technicalities. I don't think this is the last time someone is duped by him.
Daisey did Foxconn employees and all emerging-market workers a dis-service with his mistruths... all in the name of "entertainment" and his bottom line.
The real danger is that someone who really questioned the labor conditions at the factory that produces Apple (and Dell, Microsoft and many other companies) products is now left confused as to whether it's really a problem.
The true story would have been entertaining enough for me, but apparently wasn't good enough for Mike Daisey's vanity.
It actually made me think of startups and raising money. Person after person after person asking questions, making suggestions, framing questions that have really detailed answers, but sometimes it is easier to nod and be seen in a better/bigger light than to clarify.
In most contexts, I don't have any trouble with vanity. If you need to stretch the truth to make a better stage show or memoir, that's great. I loved "The Social Network" even though I knew that a lot of the story was stretched to fit a traditional film narrative. I'm OK with that.
The only thing that really went wrong was when he let his story be presented in the wrong context, and how he deliberately misled the TAL folks during fact checking.
I still think he's an entertaining storyteller, and he's brought attention to a real problem. It can only help him if he's more honest with himself and his audience moving forward.
Unfortunately the facts weren't on his side, and nor were others in his profession.
Ultimately this is the best response he could have given. Come clean. Although the couple of weeks of denial kind of eroded a lot of trust. However now it seems it was just an internal issue, and he's come to terms.
Did you listen to the TAL retraction? Some of the key points retracted make all the difference between complete outrage (employment of 12 and 13 year-olds) and disappointment. Did you hear the most emotional scene in his story, of the man with the crooked hand, is a complete fabrication? Did you read the NYTimes article by Duhig and Barboza, which was factually correct, and think that was not enough exposure of the harsh working conditions at these factories? And if you heard the TAL retraction, you surely must've heard the bit where many workers do want to work over 60 hors a week, to make more money. That surely is an interesting factual point that splashes some gray into the black and white matter presented by Daisey.
All works of fiction on TAL are identified as such. IME when Sedaris et all retell their stories, they add comedy and drama via colorful descriptions of their feelings or using exaggerated analogies. However, they don't lie.
He talks about it here...for an hour...and it is good.