Buffett is the master media manipulator

Jon Friedman writes on Indiewire.com about how Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett is excellent at manipulating the media.

Friedman writes, “This can’t be an accident. I suspect that once the word of Buffett’s prowess began to spread, and he was quickly deluged with interview requests again and again, he studied the print and broadcast media (the Web hadn’t come along yet), the way a politician might do. 

“He quickly sussed out who were the industry’s power players, and wisely gave them time and access accordingly. No one would ever take Warren Buffett for granted because of media overexposure. Soon, journalists began to covet a few minutes of face time with Buffett, the way Rolling Stone once pursued John Lennon or Bob Dylan or Mick Jagger.

“Of course, if the great man gave you some of his precious time, the tacit agreement was that you OWED him something — call it a courtesy (‘Don’ Warren, the Godfather of Wall Street) — which he expected you to pay up every time. 

“I imagine that any scribe who dared to cross him wound up on the outside looking in. That’s also the way the game is played.”

Read more here.