The National Post is reporting that one of the star reporters at Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine has resigned after admitting to inventing interviews “on a grand scale.” Claas Relotius won a CNN Journalist of the Year award in 2014, which isn’t surprising, seeing how much CNN likes fake news.
Fake News: Germany's Der Spiegel says star reporter invented interviews 'on a grand scale' for years https://t.co/HFEPLP5IMB pic.twitter.com/9AXnj7wOHk
— National Post (@nationalpost) December 19, 2018
In recent years, DER SPIEGEL published just under 60 articles by reporter and editor Claas Relotius. He has now admitted that, in several instances, he either invented stories or distorted facts. https://t.co/MPqsZwM7b5
— SPIEGEL ONLINE English (@SPIEGEL_English) December 19, 2018
Even though Relotius wrote for Der Spiegel, several of his stories were based in the United States. The Guardian reports:
The falsification came to light after a colleague who worked with him on a story along the US-Mexican border raised suspicions about some of the details in Relotius’s reporting, having harboured doubts about him for some time.
The colleague, Juan Moreno, eventually tracked down two alleged sources quoted extensively by Relotius in the article, which was published in November. Both said they had never met Relotius. Relotius had also lied about seeing a hand-painted sign that read “Mexicans keep out”, a subsequent investigation found.
Other fraudulent stories included one about a Yemeni prisoner in Guantanamo Bay, and one about the American football star Colin Kaepernick.
So, Relotius won great acclaim among his fellow journalists for pieces on Gitmo, Colin Kaepernick, and the border. He reportedly fabricated a phone call with Kaepernick’s parents, along with that “Mexicans keep out” sign.
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Among the fake news produced by @DerSPIEGEL reporter #Relotius:
– a sign emblazoned with the words "Mexicans Keep Out" at the entrance to a town in Minnesota
– schoolchildren painting pictures of Donald Trump
– a phone call with Colin Kaepernick's parentsAll of it fake.
— Philip Crowther (@PhilipinDC) December 19, 2018
CNN’s 2014 Journalist of the Year just admitted to faking news stories for years https://t.co/jky0UeuiY6
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 19, 2018
To be clear, CNN praised this journalist’s work (which is typically left wing in perspective), but did not themselves employ him.
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 19, 2018
Maybe CNN will make him an offer now that he’s out of work.
Is it surprising that CNN thought highly of this journalist?
— finman (@finman2010) December 19, 2018
Guardians of Truth!!!
Or some shit like that.
— Paul Z (@PaulZWaDC) December 19, 2018
Related:
CNN's Brian Karem shares disastrous effects of Trump's 'Fake News' charges … by spreading literal Fake News https://t.co/D0vm16Crcy
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) December 19, 2018
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