This story is a few days old, but I think it is important. Big Journalism at Breitbart.com reported recently on the lies told about Apple Computer on an episode of This American Life. The episode has since been retracted, as the charges he made against Apple have been proved false. Unfortunately, his lies were picked up by The New York Times, The Associated Press, MSNBC and HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.” I am not sure if the truth has been picked up since the lies were exposed.
The article at Big Journalism reports:
Daisey painted a vivid and dramatic picture of horrific work conditions in slave-labor factories designed to exploit workers for the benefit of Apple and you: the selfish, greedy American who demands your iProducts at a reasonable price point. The lies were exposed, ironically, by a reporter for another public-radio program, Rob Schmitz.
At this point, the interesting part of the story is not Daisey’s lies, but who bought his lies and why.
The media outlets were all too willing to publish and broadcast Daisey’s lies, because it fit perfectly into their narrative of evil American corporations (even one headed by liberal champion Steve Jobs) exploiting the downtrodden and vulnerable of the world (especially people of a non-caucasian race) for the benefit of Wall Street and Wal-Mart. Daisey’s story had everything the American media is looking for. So fact-checking was left on the back-burner.
Compare that lazy attitude with the scrutiny and skepticism heaped on conservative news outlets when stories break about a liberal congressman’s Twitter activity or a liberal President’s law school hero. There is a stunning double standard that is revealed by the Daisey story that can’t be overlooked. If a report matches with the template, the dogmatic narrative instilled in year one in Journalism School, it receives the benefit of the doubt. If a story challenges what “everyone knows to be true” from the Left’s perspective, it is held up to the highest level of scrutiny, if acknowledged at all.
Apple Computers is an American company doing a fantastic job. Thank God they were able to get the truth out and the lies exposed. It is sad that the mainstream media was so easily fooled.
