Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Port
Trad climber
San Diego
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 15, 2011 - 11:38pm PT
|
This caught my eye because Krakauer's name is attached to it.
NEW YORK — A "60 Minutes" investigation alleges that the inspirational multimillion seller "Three Cups of Tea" is filled with inaccuracies and that co-author Greg Mortenson's charitable organization has taken credit for building schools that don't exist.
The report, which airs Sunday night on CBS television, cites "Into the Wild" author Jon Krakauer as among the doubters of Mortenson's story of being lost in 1993 while mountain climbing in rural Pakistan and stumbling upon the village of Korphe, where the kindness of local residents inspired him to build a school. The "60 Minutes" story draws upon observations from the porters who joined Mortenson on his mountain trip in Pakistan and dispute his being lost. They say he only visited Korphe a year later.
The "60 Minutes" report alleges that numerous schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan that Mortenson's Central Asia Institute is said to have established either don't exist or were built by others. According to the CAI's website, the institute has "successfully established over 170 schools" and helped educate over 68,000 students, with an emphasis on girls' education."
In a statement issued Friday through the institute, Mortenson defended the book he co-authored with David Oliver Relinhis, and his humanitarian work.
"Afghanistan and Pakistan are fascinating, inspiring countries, full of wonderful people. They are also complex places, torn by conflicting loyalties, and some who do not want our mission of educating girls to succeed," Mortenson said.
"I stand by the information conveyed in my book and by the value of CAI's work in empowering local communities to build and operate schools that have educated more than 60,000 students. I continue to be heartened by the many messages of support I receive from our local partners in cities and villages across Afghanistan and Pakistan, who are determined not to let unjustified attacks stop the important work being done to create a better future for their children."
"Three Cups of Tea" was released by Penguin in 2006. Spokeswoman Carolyn Coleburn declined comment, saying the publisher had not seen the "60 Minutes" story. The book sold moderately in hardcover, but was a word-of-mouth hit as a paperback and became an international sensation, selling more than 3 million copies.
Mortenson has received numerous honors, including the Sitara-e-Pakistan (Star of Pakistan), a civilian award rarely given to foreigners.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42615493/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/
|
|
Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
|
|
|
Apr 15, 2011 - 11:41pm PT
|
I must be really tired...where Krakauer's name attached? Thanks for sharing.
|
|
TGT
Social climber
So Cal
|
|
|
Apr 15, 2011 - 11:42pm PT
|
Over the years I've run into two or three people who have had direct involvement with 60 minutes, "investigations". They are masters of character assassination and innuendo.
Take anything they present with about a pound and a half of salt.
|
|
Port
Trad climber
San Diego
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 15, 2011 - 11:43pm PT
|
The second paragraph mentions that Krakauer doubts some of Mortenson's claims.
I agree TGT, I take everything with a grain of salt.
Also, I don't really care if a few of Mortenson's claims are untrue. He has done more for U.S. interests in the region than any of our Presidents have.
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Apr 15, 2011 - 11:45pm PT
|
Hmmm.
He was just here.
|
|
TGT
Social climber
So Cal
|
|
|
Apr 15, 2011 - 11:47pm PT
|
You got that wrong too
|
|
Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
|
|
|
Apr 15, 2011 - 11:51pm PT
|
Thanks Port. I AM tired!
|
|
TGT
Social climber
So Cal
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2011 - 12:07am PT
|
the whole premise of 60 minutes is to televise someone being thrown to the lions and broadcasting a virtual evisceration.
Some times they deserve it, many times they are completely innocent, but they don't care, they still sold the adds.
|
|
philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2011 - 12:23am PT
|
Can they throw Glen Bleck to the lions?
Please!
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2011 - 12:27am PT
|
A lot of knee jerk reponses here: the truth, whartever it is, will come out.
|
|
TGT
Social climber
So Cal
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2011 - 12:35am PT
|
What ever the truth is, it's far more complex than what a 12 minute sensationalized segment can deal with .
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2011 - 12:39am PT
|
I never said that a 12 minute segment on 60 minutes will determine the truth. There are obviously some issues here that need clarification, which, I believe, will happen.
|
|
TGT
Social climber
So Cal
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2011 - 12:46am PT
|
I was privy this week to a story that if spun from first appearances would make a sensational story of US military involve in graft and corruption in Haiti when the real story was resourceful guys getting the job done while stranded by the complete failure of both the State Dept, and the dysfunctional Haitian society.
60 minutes makes a living out of sensationalizing.
The truth will come out, but not there.
|
|
TGT
Social climber
So Cal
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2011 - 01:12am PT
|
Ricky again misses the entire point.
|
|
mike m
Trad climber
black hills
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2011 - 01:16am PT
|
Damb good book, makes you want to believe. What was the book that was so big that Opra got duped on?
|
|
happiegrrrl
Trad climber
www.climbaddictdesigns.com
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2011 - 01:19am PT
|
If someone is intentionally twisting facts to create these claims that Mortenson/CAI aren't as stated....may they suffer dearly. In this life and the next several.
I saw Mortenson at a Barnes & Noble reading a few years ago. I did not get the impression he was an imposter. At all. I give zero credence to this 60 Minutes story until any allegations made are fully proven.
|
|
apogee
climber
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2011 - 01:26am PT
|
"The world does wait breathlessly on news of plucky soldiers doing what's right in the face of overbearing authority."
|
|
Port
Trad climber
San Diego
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 16, 2011 - 01:32am PT
|
What was the book that was so big that Opra got duped on?
A million little pieces.
|
|
Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2011 - 01:35am PT
|
It seems odd that a story like this would suddenly appear now. Mortenson has been doing this kind of work in northern Pakistan since the mid to late 1990s, and later in Afghanistan. It's pretty high profile. If there was something significantly off, we'd probably have known it by now. Perhaps his story of his formative experience, stumbling glassy-eyed into Korphe in 1993, grew a bit in the telling - or perhaps he saw what happened somewhat differently than some of those there now say they saw it. Perhaps he hasn't always been exact about recording achievements, and taking and sharing credit - that also comes with the territory. Both non-profits, and that part of the world.
I didn't see the television piece - no TV. But there is no shortage of journalists eager to find stories, not to mention interested Pakistanis, and somehow I think if there was anything much to what was said, it would have been known already. Perhaps he's spun his story a little bit too rosily, or his organization and colleagues have. Is there the slightest suggestion that it's to his own selfish benefit, or that he hasn't accomplished a great deal for education in these places?
Non-profits regularly puff themselves up a bit - our mailboxes are full of their propaganda, eh? And perhaps a few are run by self-serving egomaniacs, where story and reality are far different. But it seems highly doubtful that's the case here. Mortenson has accomplished some very worthwhile things.
|
|
happiegrrrl
Trad climber
www.climbaddictdesigns.com
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2011 - 01:46am PT
|
Mortenson, at the event I saw him, was probably THE most unassuming human I have ever seen speaking publicly. He was constantly trying to get the others in his entourage up on stage, he seemed so overwhelmed by the attention. Yet those people knew: The audience was there to hear Mortenson. And they gently pushed him back on stage, time and time again. He constantly lauded the efforts of others involved, minimizing the work he himself had done.
Reading both "Three Cups of tea" and "Stones Into Schools"(which takes up where 3 Cups left off, and brings up to date to...I cannot recall the year, but maybe like 2010?(Correct that, if somebody knows). In the "Stones" book, it details how the organization has grown, and much of the on-hand efforts have been made by people from the organzation living in Pakistan/Aphghanistan, as Mortenson has, by necessity, been spending his efforts at speaking engagements.
I wonder if Krakauer has interviewed any of the military men who have gone on record as stating how helpful Mortenson/CAI has been in their dealings with the people of those countries.
I won't even deign to suggest that "maybe" there is some merit to the 60 M piece.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!