Interesting Howard Kurtz column today regarding the controversy with the recently fired New York Times Magazine contributor Michael Finkel’s use of “composite characters” (translation: fabrication) in a story on Ivory Coast boys sold into slavery.
In an interview three years ago with the Montana weekly newspaper the Tributary, Finkel said: “I never do formal interviews. I don’t use a tape recorder. I take notes but occasionally. I mostly go home at night and write my impressions down. You can read my stuff; there are not very many quotes. It’s more impressionistic.”
It’s my impression that Finkle should be lining up a real job.