Sacred Trust

I found the “Retraction” podcast very interesting for a few reasons. First, I found it strange that This American Life would spend an entire hour framing Mike Daisey as a liar. To me, it was somewhat unprofessional to use him as a scapegoat in this way, rather than to use the work they had paid for and broadcasted in a positive way. By this I mean that instead of bashing his claims, simply clarify that what was said was an act of fiction BASED on true events than an act of journalism. While in some parts they did just that, I think the overall tone of their podcast was meant to shame Mike Daisey, rather than clarify a confusing situation.

That said, I feel that there was absolutely fault on both sides. On one hand, Mike Daisey should never have positioned his story as journalism due to his lack of proof and frequent use of exaggeration.

I Just Want to Fit In: Establishing Points of Entry in Ethnographic Research

I attended the Action Research panel about entering into different groups and communities for research. The speakers included Professor Kim of the Engineering Department, Professor Searles of the Sociology and Anthropology Departments, and Professor Orsborn from the MIDE program in the School of Management.

It was interesting to hear how ethnographic research can be so fundamental to the success of projects across so many varying fields.   It was interesting to hear how noting that a Guatemalan put their new glasses directly in the pocket and continued driving heavy machinery was the observation that made the necessity of fashion apparent. Although I had had the opportunity to see how clients don’t always say what they mean in some of Professor Orsborn’s classes, Professor Searles’s example of the students observing a contradiction to a porn shop manager’s impression that most of her customers are women was still surprising and emphasized the necessity of such investigations.

How much can we trust Apple?

While watching Bucknell Forum version of Daisey’s The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, I was skeptical about the claims made by Steve Jobs of improving working conditions. He said that they have sent auditors to do checks on companies like Foxconn and pushed to improve the conditions there. But for some reason every time Mike Daisey’s claims were disproved, I still placed my trust with him compared to evidence shown negating his accusations.