Paper Title- This American Lie? The Agony and the Ecstasy of the Mike Daisey Controversy

A Collaboration With Tony Romm,  Tech Reporter, The Washington Post

Working Group- Hear/Say: Aural and Oral Histories of Theatre and Performance

From our conclusion:

“While it may be premature to assess the lasting reputation of Daisey and his work, the methodological issues raised by the piece, his statements, and the media attention paid to his work are clear. Daisey’s statements seem to argue that the ends of increased awareness justify the means of spreading consciously falsified information across national airwaves. And while Daisey will never offer journalists, historians, and scholars a detailed account of what he and his translator actually witnessed in China, he strikes a note of apology in the final passage of the revised performance piece: 'Steve Jobs, this genius of design and form, blinded himself to the most essential law of design: that the way in which a thing is made is a part of the design itself. He forgot that. And so did I.'”

Photo Credit: Sara Krulwich