Wednesday, April 24, 2013

A Useful Op-Ed Strategy

Whenever reading an opinion column or signed editorial, it's always wise to consider what benefit the writer could get from the course of action he's suggesting.

For example, just this morning, here's the head of a company that provides bomb-detecting equipment insisting that the federal Office of Bombing Prevention needs to have a major increase in funding.

Hmm. I wonder where that money would go? Perhaps to buy more of Mr. Liscouski's wares?

That's only one very blatant example; in our modern, commoditized "news" economy, there are a thousand more subtle expressions of the same idea: we must do this very urgent thing...which will benefit me.

2 comments:

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Or Republicans can just spread panic everywhere to drive industries like Haliburton. "Gotta protect ourselves from weapons of mass destruction!" Formula = insert panic and drive up sales of weapons.

Andrew Wheeler said...

Michael: Now, now, this is definitely not a partisan strategy -- most of the people working this street don't have a political agenda at all (other than "politicians should totally give better contracts to my business.")

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