This American Life Retracts Apple Mike Daisey China Show
The makers of an influential US radio show have retracted a programme critical of working conditions in a Chinese factory making Apple devices.
Staff members work on the production line at the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Southern city in China in this file photo. Apple has been criticized for employing Chinese contractors accused of unfair labor practices. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
This American Life made headlines when a January edition broadcast extracts of performer Mike Daisey’s account of a visit to the plant, run by Foxconn.
The Chicago-based producers now say they have learned that Daisey’s monologue included fabrications.
It said he had made up meeting interviewees who “had been poisoned”.
The episode, entitled Mr Daisey and the Apple Factory, was distributed by Public Radio International and broadcast nationwide. It later became This American Life’s most popular podcast. It hit 888,000 downloads and was streamed 206,000 times.
The broadcast was followed by a series of articles in the New York Times looking at Apple’s working practices and production methods. The newspaper told the BBC it stands by its reporting.
Facing increased scrutiny, Apple later announced that it would allow third-party audits at its factories and release a list of its suppliers.
Read more at BBC News.
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