Michael Finkel (born 1969) is a journalist and

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

ist, who has written the books ''True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa'' (2005) and ''The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit'' (2017).

Career

Finkel was a writer for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' until 2002, when he was discovered to have used interviews with multiple people to create a composite protagonist, Youssouf Malé, for a story he had written on the Arabic slave trade within Africa, "Is Youssouf Malé A Slave?" Finkel had originally pitched a child slavery story to ''The New York Times'', but his subsequent reporting did not uncover proof of enslavement, although he did encounter teenagers working for meager wages in difficult conditions. The story Finkel submitted purported to profile an adolescent West African boy, Youssouf Malé, who sold himself into slavery on a cocoa plantation in the Ivory Coast. The story as published included photographs, including one described as being that of Malé. After publication, an official of

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

contacted Finkel to say that the boy pictured was not Malé. Upon questioning by his editors, Finkel admitted that the boy profiled in the article was in fact a composite of several boys he had interviewed, including one named Youssouf Malé. Finkel was then fired. After his dismissal from ''The New York Times'', Finkel learned that

Christian Longo Christian Michael Longo (born January 23, 1974) is a convicted murderer who killed his wife and three children in Oregon. Background Originating from Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, Longo married Mary Jane Baker at age 19 and had three children w ...

, an Oregon man who had murdered his wife and three children in December 2001, had used "Michael Finkel" as an alias during his several weeks as a fugitive. After Longo's capture the next month, Finkel communicated with him. Finkel says that, before the trial, Longo had hoped the journalist would bring out "the real story" to help him win acquittal; after conviction, the convict gave Finkel interviews admitting his guilt. Finkel wrote a memoir on the relationship, ''True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa'' (2005). Finkel is also the author of ''The Stranger in the Woods'' which tells the story of