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Not the first time in the German-speaking journalism world, Tom Kummer was another famous example (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Kummer https://en.wikipedia

Not the first time in the German-speaking journalism world, Tom Kummer was another famous example (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Kummer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Kummer). The key is that access to really great international stories is super hard for journalists from smaller markets. They benefit though from publishing their stuff in local language, so no one notices. I bet that there is far more of this going on, this guy just got too big due to his awards. Audiences in local markets thirst for bigger than life stories, in local language. Simply translating NYT does not work. Whenever you read articles that mimic a very literary, prosaic style I'd be very careful. All those young journos read David Foster Wallace and Hunter S. Thompson, plus all the great Pulitzer pieces. But, then they sit somewhere in boring Middle-Germany and either a) write boring local stuff or b) make up grandiose stories. Note that this has a long tradition in Germany, starting with famous author Karl May, who wrote legendary adventure books about the Wild West and the Orient - while never leaving Germany (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_May https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_May). Those books were written in a style suggesting being travel diaries, making a lot of readers believe in him being a real protagonist.

blfr 8y ago
Sabrina Erdely wrote for perhaps the biggest market in the world, with near complete freedom to choose where and what to report. It's unfair to malign smaller market journalists. Some, and I bet not few, journalists go into this profession to be propagandists for their cause, whatever it is.
- danso 8y ago
  Erdely wasn't accused of fabricating stories/sources, AFAIK. She was found to have been too trusting and sloppy in her reporting about someone who herself was fabricating stories.
  - blfr 8y ago
    She was convicted of defamation with actual malice. "Too trusting" doesn't even begin to describe the hoax she pulled off.
    - danso 8y ago
      Yes, you can still be liable for defamation when printing a false story, e.g. reckless disregard/negligence of the facts. My comment was that Erderly's failure/transgression was not one of fabrication. Doesn't change the damage of her reporting though.
lixtra 8y ago
> Whenever you read articles that mimic a very literary, prosaic style I'd be very careful. This rules out whole newspapers like ‘Zeit’. Also ‘Spiegel’ is known for its special style.
azinman2 8y ago
German is hardly a tiny little local language. Yes it’s not English or Chinese, but it’s big enough (as is Der Spiegel) that you can’t blame fraud on language barriers...
- matt4077 8y ago
  The mechanism OP posits, and which SPIEGEL actually mentions in their reporting, is that subjects would tend to ignore these stories because they either did not notice them due to the language barrier, or did not much care about them due to their unfamiliarity of SPIEGEL and its low importance for the US market.
- shadowtree 8y ago
  As they now reveal, he actively refused to have his articles translated into English - to prevent international audiences and subjects to expose him. I am Austrian. The German speaking world is not the center of the universe, it is provincial.
danso 8y ago
Karl May's lifetime ended in 1912. I'm not an expert on German history, but I can't imagine he was the very first German author to have fanciful tales, nor does it mean that Germany has a journalistic tradition of wholesale fabrication, compared to other countries/cultures. Joseph Pulitzer lived that same timespan and he was one of the main creators of "yellow journalism". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pulitzer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pulitzer
southerndrift 8y ago
If you like the irony, Der Spiegel is dissecting Karl May here: http://www.spiegel.de/einestages/karl-mays-echte-orientreise-wie-old-shatterhand-aufflog-a-1243157.html http://www.spiegel.de/einestages/karl-mays-echte-orientreise...
oska 8y ago
> while never leaving Germany (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_May https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_May) Hmm. The wikipedia article you linked describes him traveling to Sumatra, Egypt and North America.

blfr 8y ago

Sabrina Erdely wrote for perhaps the biggest market in the world, with near complete freedom to choose where and what to report. It's unfair to malign smaller market journalists. Some, and I bet not few, journalists go into this profession to be propagandists for their cause, whatever it is.

danso 8y ago
Erdely wasn't accused of fabricating stories/sources, AFAIK. She was found to have been too trusting and sloppy in her reporting about someone who herself was fabricating stories.
- blfr 8y ago
  She was convicted of defamation with actual malice. "Too trusting" doesn't even begin to describe the hoax she pulled off.
  - danso 8y ago
    Yes, you can still be liable for defamation when printing a false story, e.g. reckless disregard/negligence of the facts. My comment was that Erderly's failure/transgression was not one of fabrication. Doesn't change the damage of her reporting though.

lixtra 8y ago

> Whenever you read articles that mimic a very literary, prosaic style I'd be very careful. This rules out whole newspapers like ‘Zeit’. Also ‘Spiegel’ is known for its special style.

azinman2 8y ago

German is hardly a tiny little local language. Yes it’s not English or Chinese, but it’s big enough (as is Der Spiegel) that you can’t blame fraud on language barriers...

matt4077 8y ago
The mechanism OP posits, and which SPIEGEL actually mentions in their reporting, is that subjects would tend to ignore these stories because they either did not notice them due to the language barrier, or did not much care about them due to their unfamiliarity of SPIEGEL and its low importance for the US market.
shadowtree 8y ago
As they now reveal, he actively refused to have his articles translated into English - to prevent international audiences and subjects to expose him. I am Austrian. The German speaking world is not the center of the universe, it is provincial.

danso 8y ago

Karl May's lifetime ended in 1912. I'm not an expert on German history, but I can't imagine he was the very first German author to have fanciful tales, nor does it mean that Germany has a journalistic tradition of wholesale fabrication, compared to other countries/cultures. Joseph Pulitzer lived that same timespan and he was one of the main creators of "yellow journalism". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pulitzer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pulitzer

southerndrift 8y ago

If you like the irony, Der Spiegel is dissecting Karl May here: http://www.spiegel.de/einestages/karl-mays-echte-orientreise-wie-old-shatterhand-aufflog-a-1243157.html http://www.spiegel.de/einestages/karl-mays-echte-orientreise...

oska 8y ago

> while never leaving Germany (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_May https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_May) Hmm. The wikipedia article you linked describes him traveling to Sumatra, Egypt and North America.