Mike Daisey's latest excuse: I was quoted out of context
Three days after 'This American Life' retracted his report about working conditions at iPad factories, Daisy now says the radio show used some of his material 'out of context.'
Mike Daisey, the actor and Apple critic, claims that some of the material used during his interview with radio show "This American Life" was taken out of context.
On his blog, Daisey today wrote: "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."
A spokeswoman for This American Life declined to comment.
On Friday, the Chicago-based show said it could no longer vouch for a January episode in which it used excerpts from Daisey's show to report on working conditions in Chinese factories where iPads and iPhones are assembled. Host Ira Glass said that Daisey was asked multiple times whether everything in his monologue about his visit to the factories was factual and Daisey said they were.
An investigation turned up numerous inaccuracies. When confronted, Daisey admitted some of the events he claimed were factual were made up or embellished. These included his assertion that he met underage workers, people poisoned by industrial chemicals, and workers crippled by unsafe equipment.
What Daisey doesn't do in his blog today is say that This American Life is wrong for issuing a retraction. Daisey wrote "I apologized in this week's episode to anyone who felt betrayed. I stand by that apology."