60 Minutes: Greg Mortenson Fabricated Parts of Books

Reading between the lines, I think Krakauer realized that Mortensen's MO would have been to discredit him and make him look like a bitter glory hound who was upset at being cut out (it would have been a complete lie, but Mortensen would have merely needed his supporters to believe it). But when 60 Minutes does the hit, not only does it get a nationwide television audience, it's done by someone (Steve Kroft) with no apparent axe to grind. I think Krakauer was so disillusioned by Mortensen that he wanted the cleanest kill possible.

 

Montana AG opens inquiry into Three Cups charity.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_books_three_cups_of_tea

 

Here are a few words from Krakauer's editor:

http://usat.ly/hOVkLC

 

That's pretty interesting and answers a lot of questions, though I think 60 Minutes probably should have made that clear.

Mortenson is a fool. They have the goods on him and he thinks he can make it go away with a couple of bland explanations, blaming his co-author, and relying on the good will his work has earned him.

He needs to either shut up or come clean. If he continues to lie, Krajauer and others will continue to expose him.

 

Krakauer's piece (still free for the moment) debuts a very important experiment in longform narrative journalism. Book-length stories without the book; magazine pieces without the magazine. Whether or not the economic model for this kind of storytelling succeeds is anyone's guess.

http://www.byliner.com/

 

Note to self: Never raise the ire of Mr. Krakauer.

What a brutally thorough takedown.

 

the nut graf:

Here's more info/links about byliner.com for those interested:
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/romenesko/128741/byliner-aims-for-the-space-between-books-and-magazines/

 

My wife read Mortenson's book and was a big fan.

Our daughter is in an honors program, had an opportunity go to a dinner for Mortenson when he spoke at her college and was able to invite my wife as a guest.

My wife also stood in line at a book signing with an envelope containing a small cash donation from a little fund she sets back for charities.

When this story broke, I thought "Oh crap. '60 Minutes' is going to take down a hero," and I began to hope that they were somehow wrong about Mortenson.

Then, I heard about Krakauer and I knew that someone was going to pee in her cup of tea.

Last night, when I talked to her, she said that, in an odd way, she was not surprised. At the book signing, they did not treat her and her little donation very well, seeming to be inconvenienced by the whole trivial affair. She was told to give it to Mortenson's body guard, who gave her the creeps.

 

Nick Kristof:

The people that really believed in Mortenson are taking this the hardest.

While his stated goal was noble and worthy, and he may have accomplished some of those goals, it doesn't change the fact that he is a fraud.

Looking at his Institute's website, it looks like he had a very small board that he had complete control of.

If he really cares about the mission, they need to find some people with real credibility willing to take over the Institute. If he comes clean, maybe he can have a role as a champion of the girls in Afghanistan, but he needs to relinquish operation control and access to the checkbook.

 

Anyone labelled as a contributing editor to any publication which carries "Walter Scott's Personality Parade" has much to answer for.

 

And now Outside is finding holes in Mortenson's confession and defense.

http://outside-blog.away.com/blog/2011/04/greg-mortensons-trip-to-korphe-cant-get-there-from-here.html

 

Considering how Mortenson likes to fudge the truth, he should make an excellent Republican candidate for president in 2012.