From Michelle Anderson's fact-checking of the claims in Relotius' article:
Claim - near a "dark forest" there's a welcome sign with flag banner and slogan "Welcome to Fergus Falls, home of damn good folks." Truth - see photo of welcome sign
Claim - the single city administrator carries a Beretta 9 mm to work, has no experience with women, has never seen the ocean. Truth - he has no Beretta, lives with his girlfriend, has picture of them beside the ocean.
Claim - the town is obsessed with "American Sniper" which opened in 2015 and was still running in 2017. Truth - it ran from January to February 2015.
Claim - a sign warns "Mexicans Keep Out." Truth - no one has seen that sign.
Dumb, made-up stuff, and there's much more. Why did journalist Relotius do it??
His fiction served his purpose better than the truth of the actual town and its diverse citizens. Michelle says she doesn't appreciate the "false historical documentation" of a town and people she knows, all to reinforce the stereotype of small town America held by "overseas readers."
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