3 ms·

Because Der Spiegel publishes primarily in German, it was hard to even find the articles that Relotius wrote, even though DS says the articles will remain as-is

by danso 8y ago

Because Der Spiegel publishes primarily in German, it was hard to even find the articles that Relotius wrote, even though DS says the articles will remain as-is until the conclusion of their investigation. I did find on Twitter someone from Fergus Fall, MN, blogging a response to a feature story by Relotius, a story purportedly about Trump's America. The list of complaints seems quite convincing: https://medium.com/@micheleanderson/der-spiegel-journalist-messed-with-the-wrong-small-town-d92f3e0e01a7 https://medium.com/@micheleanderson/der-spiegel-journalist-m... An example of an allegedly-fabricated fact: > Perhaps the oddest fiction in a list of many is Relotius’ depiction of Bremseth as someone who “would like to marry soon…but he has not yet been in a serious relationship with a woman. He has also never been to the ocean.” > We can attest that Bremseth has indeed been to the ocean, by his account, “many times” and is currently happily involved in a multi-year, cohabitational relationship with a woman named Amanda. In fact, here’s a picture of the two of them in front of, all things, an ocean.

netsharc 8y ago
Wow, reading their debunking, what that journalist did is fucking disgusting. The Spiegel article mentions the whole office is in shock, I can imagine, it's probably like realizing your wonderful spouse has been having an affair for the last 10 years. It makes me think of this lady's TED talk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg, and how that journalist [wait why am I referring to him as a journalist, he's a fraudster], how that fraudster is just making up his own story and presenting it as the truth, painting a an imaginary world for his readers' minds which they would accept as reality. Sadly that's what lazy journalism and fake newsmakers do as well, so much that some people are convinced of the existence of FEMA death squads and a child porn ring in the basement of a pizza restaurant...
- danso 8y ago
  I'm definitely someone of low ambition and likely low imagination, but I've never understood the desire as a journalist to fabricate when, as the saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction. For the sake of argument, let's assume that places like Fergus Falls, MN, are actually representative of the communities responsible for Trump's victory, and that Trump's victory, to the Der Spiegel readership, is a "bad thing". The obvious "duh" narrative is that everyone in Fergus Fall is a multiple-gun-toting, sex-repressed hillbilly who wouldn't know the difference between or even the existence of Germany and Russia. Such a caricature is more "viral"/tweetable. But if you as a journalist wanted to raise the alarm about the rise of Trumpism, the far more disturbing story would be one depicting Fergus Falls as the "normal" and non-extreme place that it ostensibly is. Because that would imply the scenario of the "good German", where people are uncaring of the purported evil until it's too late. That the Der Spiegel reporter went for fabricating schlock is, to me, indicative not just of his total lack of ethics, but also shallowness of thought, though maybe the two things are highly correlated.
  - netsharc 8y ago
    Indeed, indeed. This reporter also spent time in a midwestern town, his report painted a better picture: https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2016/nov/16/how-trump-took-middletown-muncie-election https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2016/nov/16/how-trump... The caricature in everyone's mind is also dangerous, a lot of Trump "haters" probably just think the average Trump voter is a racist, gun-toting hillbilly. They don't want to further consider e.g. why people who voted for Obama would switch to vote for Trump. And how many people's image of "Muslim refugee" is immediately "ISIS fighter"? The same thing is happening with the rise of the populist right in Europe, these are people feeling economically insecure about the future (thanks to, among other things, Merkel's austerity policies as the de-facto leader of Europe), they're confused, the right is exploiting this fear to get them mad, and the left don't bother listening to them and dismiss them as racists, and think the answer is posters promoting tolerance...

by danso 8y ago

netsharc 8y ago

Wow, reading their debunking, what that journalist did is fucking disgusting. The Spiegel article mentions the whole office is in shock, I can imagine, it's probably like realizing your wonderful spouse has been having an affair for the last 10 years. It makes me think of this lady's TED talk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg, and how that journalist [wait why am I referring to him as a journalist, he's a fraudster], how that fraudster is just making up his own story and presenting it as the truth, painting a an imaginary world for his readers' minds which they would accept as reality. Sadly that's what lazy journalism and fake newsmakers do as well, so much that some people are convinced of the existence of FEMA death squads and a child porn ring in the basement of a pizza restaurant...

danso 8y ago
I'm definitely someone of low ambition and likely low imagination, but I've never understood the desire as a journalist to fabricate when, as the saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction. For the sake of argument, let's assume that places like Fergus Falls, MN, are actually representative of the communities responsible for Trump's victory, and that Trump's victory, to the Der Spiegel readership, is a "bad thing". The obvious "duh" narrative is that everyone in Fergus Fall is a multiple-gun-toting, sex-repressed hillbilly who wouldn't know the difference between or even the existence of Germany and Russia. Such a caricature is more "viral"/tweetable. But if you as a journalist wanted to raise the alarm about the rise of Trumpism, the far more disturbing story would be one depicting Fergus Falls as the "normal" and non-extreme place that it ostensibly is. Because that would imply the scenario of the "good German", where people are uncaring of the purported evil until it's too late. That the Der Spiegel reporter went for fabricating schlock is, to me, indicative not just of his total lack of ethics, but also shallowness of thought, though maybe the two things are highly correlated.
- netsharc 8y ago
  Indeed, indeed. This reporter also spent time in a midwestern town, his report painted a better picture: https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2016/nov/16/how-trump-took-middletown-muncie-election https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2016/nov/16/how-trump... The caricature in everyone's mind is also dangerous, a lot of Trump "haters" probably just think the average Trump voter is a racist, gun-toting hillbilly. They don't want to further consider e.g. why people who voted for Obama would switch to vote for Trump. And how many people's image of "Muslim refugee" is immediately "ISIS fighter"? The same thing is happening with the rise of the populist right in Europe, these are people feeling economically insecure about the future (thanks to, among other things, Merkel's austerity policies as the de-facto leader of Europe), they're confused, the right is exploiting this fear to get them mad, and the left don't bother listening to them and dismiss them as racists, and think the answer is posters promoting tolerance...