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Mike's response: http://mikedaisey.blogspot.in/2012/03/statement-on-tal.html http://mikedaisey.blogspot.in/2012/03/statement-on-tal.html

by jschuur 15y ago

tptacek 15y ago
"It uses a combination of fact, memoir, and dramatic license to tell its story, and I believe it does so with integrity". There is no integrity in lying to fact checkers to ensure your piece gets on the air. Shafer: [...] But what joins D’Agata and Capote is this: Both love “real” facts, but when blocked by journalistic convention from the literary effects they desire, they willingly leapt that fence to create whatever rules they needed to enhance their work. Because he admits to his shape-shifting, D’Agata’s work is harmless. Capote’s book, on the other hand [...] [...] That other field, the much smaller one strewn with landmines, rusting rebar and barking dogs is called non-fiction — or in its less effete incarnation, journalism. Oddly, without an accurate record as our anchor, it would be difficult to create fiction, as former New York Times Executive Editor Max Frankel observed in a 1998 essay. “Wrong facts and the truths derived from them are always correctable — with more facts. Fictional facts are forever counterfeit,” Frankel writes. I believe in journalism, not journalists, and welcome anybody with a notebook, a recorder or a 94 percent total-recall memory to help clear our field and plant it with their work as long as they have a true story to tell. As for latter-day Capotes and D’Agatas, I can give you Google Maps directions to the land of fiction.
- nikcub 15y ago
  the last time I heard a similar line was from Ben Mezrich, the guy who wrote 'accidental billionares' about Facebook.
  - tptacek 15y ago
    Even the response is dishonest. "I'm sorry I allowed TAL to run an except from my story". The guy lied to fact-checkers to get the story on the air. There's nothing passive about that. Nothing he says is trustworthy.
ekanes 15y ago
His picture to the right of his response is priceless in context.
spwmoni 15y ago
What a load of horseshit. Unless he prefaced every performance with a disclaimer that the piece was a work of fiction, his theatrical performances were no more legitimate than the TAL appearance.
- jerf 15y ago
  It also undermines his point. If getting people to believe what you want them to believe and do what you want them to do requires you to pump up the truth, maybe people were justified in their original opinions and actions after all if the mere truth wouldn't change their minds. There is no sane interpretation in which he did not knowingly and with gusto embrace the misunderstandings his shading of the truth created. I can't respect that.
amitparikh 15y ago
It's the Jon Stewart defense, except that he's not a comedian!
- robterrell 15y ago
  Hmmm. Interestingly, when I first met Mike Daisey, he wasn't a monologuist -- he was a comedian. He started the Seattle Sketchfest back in 1999. But that's not a defense for anyone practicing journalism.

Mike's response: http://mikedaisey.blogspot.in/2012/03/statement-on-tal.html http://mikedaisey.blogspot.in/2012/03/statement-on-tal.html

by jschuur 15y ago

Mike's response: http://mikedaisey.blogspot.in/2012/03/statement-on-tal.html http://mikedaisey.blogspot.in/2012/03/statement-on-tal.html

tptacek 15y ago

"It uses a combination of fact, memoir, and dramatic license to tell its story, and I believe it does so with integrity". There is no integrity in lying to fact checkers to ensure your piece gets on the air. Shafer: [...] But what joins D’Agata and Capote is this: Both love “real” facts, but when blocked by journalistic convention from the literary effects they desire, they willingly leapt that fence to create whatever rules they needed to enhance their work. Because he admits to his shape-shifting, D’Agata’s work is harmless. Capote’s book, on the other hand [...] [...] That other field, the much smaller one strewn with landmines, rusting rebar and barking dogs is called non-fiction — or in its less effete incarnation, journalism. Oddly, without an accurate record as our anchor, it would be difficult to create fiction, as former New York Times Executive Editor Max Frankel observed in a 1998 essay. “Wrong facts and the truths derived from them are always correctable — with more facts. Fictional facts are forever counterfeit,” Frankel writes. I believe in journalism, not journalists, and welcome anybody with a notebook, a recorder or a 94 percent total-recall memory to help clear our field and plant it with their work as long as they have a true story to tell. As for latter-day Capotes and D’Agatas, I can give you Google Maps directions to the land of fiction.

nikcub 15y ago
the last time I heard a similar line was from Ben Mezrich, the guy who wrote 'accidental billionares' about Facebook.
- tptacek 15y ago
  Even the response is dishonest. "I'm sorry I allowed TAL to run an except from my story". The guy lied to fact-checkers to get the story on the air. There's nothing passive about that. Nothing he says is trustworthy.

ekanes 15y ago

His picture to the right of his response is priceless in context.

spwmoni 15y ago

What a load of horseshit. Unless he prefaced every performance with a disclaimer that the piece was a work of fiction, his theatrical performances were no more legitimate than the TAL appearance.

jerf 15y ago
It also undermines his point. If getting people to believe what you want them to believe and do what you want them to do requires you to pump up the truth, maybe people were justified in their original opinions and actions after all if the mere truth wouldn't change their minds. There is no sane interpretation in which he did not knowingly and with gusto embrace the misunderstandings his shading of the truth created. I can't respect that.

amitparikh 15y ago

It's the Jon Stewart defense, except that he's not a comedian!

robterrell 15y ago
Hmmm. Interestingly, when I first met Mike Daisey, he wasn't a monologuist -- he was a comedian. He started the Seattle Sketchfest back in 1999. But that's not a defense for anyone practicing journalism.