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ABC Previews 'Nightline' Visit to Foxconn's Chinese Factories

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Over the weekend, ABC announced that it had been granted exclusive access to Foxconn's factories in China where the company assembled products for Apple, with the segment scheduled to air on a special edition of Nightline on Tuesday night.

foxconn ipad polishing
ABC has now posted a preview of the segment, along with a teaser video from Nightline co-anchor Bill Weir.

Apple promised complete access, no dog-and-pony, no Potemkin Village, but they denied my repeated requests to interview Apple CEO Tim Cook or the senior vice president of industrial design, Jony Ive.

In a three-golf-cart convoy, both Apple and Foxconn reps took us around to a half dozen production lines in Shenzhen and Chengdu, and there were always five to six people with us as we toured the factories and dorms. But aside from suggesting a visit to the counseling center or canteen, they never steered us to interviews and never interrupted.


The extensive preview offers comments from several Foxconn employees, as well as Louis Woo, a former Apple executive who now serves as an advisor to Foxconn CEO Terry Gou, and Fair Labor Association president Auret van Heerden.

Nightline's "iFactory: Inside Apple" segment airs tomorrow, February 21, at 11:35 PM Eastern and Pacific on ABC.

Top Rated Comments

d4rkc4sm Avatar
d4rkc4sm
184 months ago
why isnt there this same level of scrutiny of america's chicken farms?
Score: 60 Votes (Like | Disagree)
djrod Avatar
djrod
184 months ago
why isnt there this same level of scrutiny of america's chicken farms?

There are more Apple haters than chicken farms haters ;)
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C
caddisfly
184 months ago
now lets see a tour of....

the processing facilities of a subcontractor who is processing chicken, cattle, pork for any big meat companies in the US market

or any of the subcontractors who are making toys for walmart, costco, target, etc for the US market

or any subcontractors who are picking your fruit and veggies that you eat every day

or any of the subcontractors who makes your clothing

...let alone the other computer manufacturers

if this is something you want Apple to feel "shame" about or get "blame", look in the mirror
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lesser Evets Avatar
Lesser Evets
184 months ago
I like how the media tries to point to Apple and make people blame Apple. You can blame Apple for using Foxconn, if there are strange work practices, but you can blame a bunch of other major electronics people as well. Apple doesn't own Foxconn, it pays them to make the product.

There is this ignorant perception that Apple manages, owns, controls, and whips slaves down in the Foxconn building. If you follow the media, you'd think Steve Jobs is resurrected and eating the food denied to Foxconn people by their evil Apple overlord.

Hey. Work laws are different in different countries. Get used to it. This isn't McEarth.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
applesith Avatar
applesith
184 months ago
Let's hope they put the Foxconn salaries in context. Living over there does not cost anywhere as much as living here in the US or Europe.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Warbrain Avatar
Warbrain
184 months ago
Glad to see you care more about chickens than people. There hasn't been a large number of humans committing suicide at chicken farms.

There was never a large number of suicides. The suicide rate of Foxconn workers is below that of China.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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