How Tom Friedman & Malcolm Gladwell were able to rule our world

These journo-gurus have overturned two established hierarchies. The first is the billion-dollar management theory industry, hitherto ruled by business professors and management consultants who produced books and then turned those books into business fads. Alas, the books were often dismally written, the fads a recipe for disaster. This created an opportunity for those with sharper pens and more dispassionate attitude....
The second overturned hierarchy is that of journalism. m. This used to be dominated by political journalists who hogged the front pages and secured the best book deals. But the most successful of those--Bob Woodward, George Will--are all getting long in the tooth. And younger political writers are finding it almost impossible to talk their way into the first-class cabin. The big money goes to TV journalists whose grinning faces launch a dozen worthless bestsellers. Political partisanship is tempting political writers to turn themselves into ideological water carriers rather than serious reporters. And the internet is multiplying the number of voices while diminishing the impact of any of them.

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http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/story/the-rise-of-the-journo-gurus

i think what these guys have pulled off is nothing short of brilliant.

has anyone taken a look at outliers? it's a clever book, but not only is the research unoriginal, a lot of it actually came from wiki. the guy's hardly a "guru" of anything, BUT IT DOESNT MATTER. he takes other people's big ideas and writes about them in clear, concise, easy to understand language. that's why Outliers was able to get a friggin TV commercial.

how many books are advertised on TV?!?

gladwell's good, i loved the tipping point and blink, but then there's that imbecile freidman. for the love of me, i do not understand how his overstretched metaphors and cheap puns can constantly propel him to the top of the NYT bestsellers list.

well that's not entirely true. i do get that a huge part of both of their successes comes down to catchy titles - Blink is probably the single best title for a book ever, and while the title "the World is Flat" really doesnt make much sense in the context of his book, at least it's "eye-grabbing".

whatever, i hate him and hope he chokes on paper.

but that's another thread.

all i wanted to say was that this is a pretty interesting phenomenon, and something that might in fact be inspirational.

possibly.

oops this thread should be at that roundtable place.

maybe someone can move it.

and yes, ms. bronco, it's jarring and confusing to see a book advertised on tv.

and i dont like being confused.