Shortly before the end of his journalistic career, misery and glamor crossed paths in the life of Claas Relotius. On the evening of Monday, Dec. 3, Relotius, who had worked for DER SPIEGEL for seven years and had been employed as an editor for the past year and a half, was called onto a stage in Berlin. The jury for the 2018 German Reporter Prize was once again of the opinion that he had written the best feature story of the year, this one about a Syrian boy who lived with the belief that he had contributed to the country's civil war through a graffito he had daubed onto a wall in Daraa. The jurors praised the article for its "unparalleled lightness, intimacy and relevance that is never silent regarding the sources on which it is based." The truth, however -- a truth that nobody could have known at that point in time -- is that his sources were anything but clear. Indeed, it is likely that much of it was made up. Inventions. Lies. Quotes, places, scenes, characters: All fake.
The staff at Der Spiegel wouldn't believe their own staffer at first, because this guy made the company a ton of money peddling pure fiction. The narratives fit the desired audience perfectly. Why wouldn't the perpetrator write more? His masters requested more - until he was caught, that is. Then they were "shocked, I say, shocked!" We need to forget about this guy and put the man who exposed him up for an award. He's the hero here. He fought against internal disbelief until the weight of evidence was overwhelming, and the perp confessed.
Fake news is real, ironically.