Foxconn won’t take legal action against ‘This American Life’ after retraction of Mike Daisey lies

55 Comments

“Foxconn Technology Group , the top [assembler] of Apple Inc’s iPhones and iPads, said on Monday it had no plans to take legal action over a U.S. radio programm about its activity in China, parts of which have been retracted,” Reuters reports. “But the company said the broadcast, which has generated public debate on journalistic ethics in the United States, had hurt its reputation.”

“The radio programm ‘This American Life’ last week retracted an episode critical of working conditions at a Chinese factory of Foxconn, saying it had contained ‘numerous fabrications,'” Reuters reports. “The retracted episode, broadcast on Jan. 6, was based heavily on a one-man theatrical show by actor Mike Daisey: ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs.'”

‘Our client is Apple Inc… Our corporate image has been totally ruined. The point is whatever media that cited the program should not have reported it without confirming (with us),” said Simon Hsing, Foxconn’s spokesman,” Reuters reports. “‘We have no plans to take legal action… We hope nothing similar will happen again.'”

Read more in the full article here.

Related articles:
Foxconn glad Mike Daisey’s lies exposed; says media hasn’t gone far enough in reporting truth – March 19, 2012
Apple and the Daisey affair: Why did the company keep its silence, when it knew a year ago what we know now? – March 18, 2012
Apple firestorm leads Mike Daisey to change his ‘agony and ecstasy of Steve Jobs’ show – March 17, 2012
‘This American Life’ retracts story, says it can’t vouch for the truth of Mike Daisey’s monologue about Apple in China – March 16, 2012
Foxconn: The fire that wasn’t – March 15, 2012
Apple supplier Foxconn again lifts pay for China workers; 16-25 percent increase – February 17, 2012
FLA President: Foxconn factories ‘first-class; way, way above average’ – February 15, 2012
‘Slacktivism’ groups claim credit for Apple supplier audits over a month after Apple originally announced its plans – February 14, 2012
Thousands line up for iPhone assembly jobs at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou, China plant – January 30, 2012
Apple CEO Tim Cook calls New York Times supplier report ‘patently false and offensive’ – January 27, 2012
Apple audit led by COO Tim Cook prompted improvements at Foxconn – February 14, 2011
Media blows it: Foxconn employees face significantly lower suicide risk – May 28, 2010

55 Comments

  1. Shocking, the media not checking or even contacting sources. These “media corporations” have a lot of need to sell commercial slots to all the other “evil corporations” at an elevated price. Wow. Really, based of a play! Told by an actor? No checking of sources? Pure incompetence.

    Reply

      3. Democrat found a magic genie’s lamp and rubbed it. The genie said, “I will grant you one wish.” He said, “I wish I were smarter”. So the genie made him a Republican.

        Reply

        2. Not angry…just tired of these silly posts that throw all Liberals or Conservatives into the one container and call them unpatriotic. In this case, saying all Liberals “lie, cheat, steal, anything goes” is the sign of a very disturbed person who has lost their perspective of humanity.

        3. The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
          Sir Winston Churchill

        4. castlebuono,

          I don’t understand why you are so angry. Do you live in the great country of the United States. I am a proud citizen and am appalled at what Democrats are doing, but I am still happy. I hope you are all right. There is counseling available for people like you with anger management issues. I can provide a link if you would like. The first step is admitting your problem.

      7. “It’s the law of the land for Liberals. Lie, cheat, steal, anything goes.”

        But that’s also the law of the land for Conservatives. So why the hell don’t they get along?

        Wait, that’s right. In sports, the two teams are supposed to fight eachother. They aren’t supposed to join hands just because they’re playing the same game.

        Reply

        1. No conservatives don’t lie, cheat, steal, and always hide their true motivations like DemoTard-Liberalistas do. LIberals always hide their true intentions. When are you Socialists done? When do you have enough of other people’s hard earned money, private property, and rights? Please go away and leave us alone. And while your at it step up to the plate and take some personal responsibility for your pathetic asses!

      1. s republican came home and heard noise in his bedroom. He went upstairs and saw his wife in bed with another man. He yelled out “what’s going on here”…, his wife told the other man “I told you he was stupid”…

        Reply

    1. A guy is visiting San Francisco, and walks into a small store in Chinatown.

      He notices a small bronze statue of a rat.

      He asks the owner “how much”, and the owner replies “$50 for the bronze rat, and $1000 for the story behind it.”

      The guy says, “forget the story”, and buys the rat.

      As he’s walking down the street he notices two live rats following him. As he continues to walk, more rats start following him.

      He starts to get a little concerned, and heads for the waterfront. By the time he gets there there are thousands and thousands of rats following him.

      He walks up to the end of the pier and throws the bronze rat into the bay, and the rats all follow and leap off of the pier and drown.

      The guy rushes back to the store and walks in. The owner says, “Ah!, so your back for the story”.

      The guys says, “No, I was wondering if you have any bronze liberals?”

      Reply

        1. ”Of course, a lot of right wingers are very upset about this because they believe this health care bill will cost a lot of money. You know what I think? Just pretend it’s another unnecessary war. You’ll feel better about it already.” —Jay Leno

        2. Mmmm… you think removing Saddam Hussain from power was “unnecessary”? Should have been done by Clinton (rathe than just dumping our entire arsenal of cruse missiles onto Iran)

  3. I listened to the “This American Life” podcast. In the end, I am still disappointed. They still bashed Apple for a problem that existed well before them, and expect some kind of self torture, just because they have 100 billion dollars, which is not readily accessible.

    Oh, so we as a society fixed our labor problems. Not exactly, because labor is constantly under attact in the US. However that is beside the point. What can we do about Chinese Labor? Nothing, and if we did try, it would back fire on us. We need to stop this insanity that we have to save the poor Chinese laborer. Well then who does save them? How about the Chinese Laborer, they save themselves. If they don’t, and we try, they will never beable to preserve their own rights. We cannot do this for them and then they depend on us to protect them.

    Oh man I have to stop here, but I can go all night with this. Please expand on this if you think I am right. If I am wrong, please help me understand.

    Reply

    1. This isn’t about Chinese labour. This is about striking at Apple, no matter what the issue. Just like the environmentalists used to criticize them about landfill issues, until Apple made their products some of the ‘greenest’ on the planet.

      The negative backlash against Apple comes from two sources, one old, one new:
      – the old guard Applehaters have been around forever
      – the new neggies are picking up the calling because of Apple’s relatively recent and profound rise to the top.

      This is a curious world we live in.

      Reply

  5. Perhaps Foxxconn will learn that reform begins with inform. The exposure they have received will hopefully lead to better publicity for them and a better life for their laborers. One thing that gets lost in all the negativity about Foxxconn is that every Monday morning, 3,000 more applicants show up at their gates to apply for work. For a few folks, a job at Foxxconn is a step up and forward.

    Reply

  10. Again, way to ignore the 95% truth that was in Daisy’s piece. The hours, conditions, low pay, … If you remember, 60 min did a piece on Foxconn and so did 20/20. Both with the same facts presented by Daisy. Daisy happened to make a bafoon decision to fluff up a fact or 2 for timeline and presentation, thus killing his credibility. Fact is: If Apple would take 10% of their bank account, (that’s $10 billion) and build say, 5 state of the art factories in this country ($2B a piece, on par with a new Micron or Intel foundry); 4 supplying the 4 most critical components to the 5th assembly factory of say, the iPhone or the PowerMacs, we would be talking about how Apply is leading the country back to manufacturing and all the others should follow their lead, etc… Think of all the added value to their stock, marketing value, and good will. They would still make a ton of profit since each factory would be heavily automated, and add a measurable jump in this country’s economy. That’s like GM building 5 new car factories at once. Apple is losing it’s roots. It’s not about maximizing profit; it’s about being a good company, making amazing products, and being a great place to work. Right now, it’s 2 out of 3.

    Reply

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