Mike Daisey, whose monologue "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs" was recently found to contain several major fabrications about what he saw at factories run by Apple's Chinese manufacturing partner, Foxconn, has posted an apology on his blog.

Previously, Daisey claimed that although he had never personally seen some of the harsh working conditions described in his performance, his show's message about "the nature of Chinese manufacturing" was still basically true, and accused critics of wanting to "return to ignoring everything about the circumstances under which their devices are made."

His latest post is an actual apology, both to his audiences for "being careless with [their] trust" and to fellow documentary theater performers for "making [their] path more difficult."

He also apologized to the journalists to whom he "exaggerated" his experiences in China, writing, "Things came out of my mouth that just weren't true, and over time, I couldn't even hear the difference myself."

The scandal apparently hasn't done much damage to Daisey's career. No theaters have cancelled their scheduled performances of "The Agony and the Ecstasy," and Daisey has added a new prologue to address his critics.

[mikedaisey]

Although "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs" performer Mike Daisey admitted last week that he made up reports that he saw child workers and guards with guns at the factories of Apple's Chinese manufacturing partner, Foxconn, working conditions at the company are still being watched closely.

According to a spokesman for the workers' rights group China Labor Bulletin, the workers who make iPads and iPhones still face long hours, abusive management, and unsafe working conditions, even after Apple allowed independent inspections of Foxconn plants.

"All those things are very much in place. I don't think there's been any alleviation in the past few months. I don't think Foxconn's done anything, really," he said.

Foxconn says that even though This American Life retracted Daisey's piece, the company's "corporate image has been totally ruined" by his allegations. Despite that claim, Foxconn isn't considering legal action.

Meanwhile, Daisey says that the admitted fabrications in his story don't invalidate his basic message about the poor conditions under which our iDevices are made remains true. On his blog, he promised to "make a full accounting" of his monologue's "origins, construction, and details."

"If people want to use me as an excuse to return to denialism about the state of our manufacturing, about the shape of our world, they are doing that to themselves," he wrote.

[reuters / mikedaisey]

This American Life has just released its latest episode, where host Ira Glass confronts Mike Daisey about lies in Daisey's now-retracted report about working conditions at Apple manufacturer Foxconn, which aired on TAL in January.

In the episode, Glass explained the reasoning behind the retraction thusly:

As best as we can tell, Mike's monologue in reality is a mix of things that actually happened when he visited China and things that he just heard about or researched, which he then pretends that he witnessed first hand… And the most powerful and memorable moments in the story all seem to be fabricated.

Daisey's defense was that his monologue, "The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," is "true in the context of the theatre," which Glass felt was "a really hedgy answer."

Also appearing on the show was Marketplace reporter Rob Schmitz, who explained how he confirmed the fabrications in the Apple story by tracking down the interpreter who accompanied Daisey on his factory visits.

Glass concluded the discussion by saying that, although Daisey shouldn't have lied to This American Life's fact-checkers, the show also shouldn't have run the episode before checking Daisey's story with the interpreter.

The full transcript and audio of the full show are available at This American Life's website.

[theverge]

This American Life has retracted a January piece about the working conditions at Foxconn, the Chinese company that assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple, after learning that it "contained significant fabrications."

In a blog post, TAL host Ira Glass explains that the piece in question an excerpt from Mike Daisey's acclaimed one-man stage show "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," and that TAL "can't vouch for its truth."

This American Life's website now lists an upcoming episode where Glass "talks with Mike Daisey about why he misled This American Life during the fact-checking process," and the show ends by "separating fact from fiction, when it comes to Apple's manufacturing practices in China."

Daisey has responded to the retraction in a post on his blog, writing, "What I do is not journalism. The tools of the theater are not the same as the tools of journalism. For this reason, I regret that I allowed This American Life to air an excerpt from my monologue."

The retracted show has been pulled from TAL's website, but it's still available elsewhere online.

The followup episode airs today, and it will be available online Sunday evening.

[kottke]