Foxconn Welcomes Retraction Of Mike Daisey's 'This American Life' Episode
by Brent Dirks
March 19, 2012
Foxconn wasted no time in commenting on the news that “This American Life” retracted its broadcast that featured Mike Daisey’s travels to China and the Apple supplier.
In talking with BusinessWeek, Foxconn spokesman Louis Woo said the company welcomed the retraction:
“I am happy that the truth prevails, I am glad that Mike Daisey’s lies were exposed. But I don’t think that the reports about this have gone far enough to find out what exactly is the truth.”“This American Life” issued a stern blog post and press release on Friday that spelled out some of the fabrications that Daisey told in the broadcast. The episode featured information from Daisey’s one-man show “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs.” And for Dasiey’s part, he seems to be as defiant as he was when the news first broke. On a blog post Monday, he criticized “This American Life” and host Ira Glass regarding the latest episode of the program that fully covered the controversy.
“Many consider this week’s THIS AMERICAN LIFE episode one of the most painful they’ve ever listened to. In particular the segment with me is excruciating—four hours of grilling edited down to fifteen minutes. I thought the dead air was a nice touch, and finishing the episode with audio pulled out of context from my performance was masterful. That’s Ira’s choice, and it’s his show. He’s a storyteller within the context of radio journalism, and I am a storyteller in the theater."Dasiey also announced, during a show this weekend, that he revised the script for better accuracy, saying that he believes “the truth is vitally important.” But how has the truth, or Daisey’s version of it, changed how Apple and Foxconn are looked upon? While most of us can agree that conditions are less than ideal for workers, have Daisey’s fabrications muddied what is really happening in China?