Please, no more “The Warren Buffett of…” references

Tim Shufelt of Canadian Business takes dead aim at one of the most overused cliches in business journalism — calling someone “The Warren Buffett” of their country or their field.

Shufelt writes, “But look pretty much anywhere and you’ll find someone described as the Warren Buffett of…well, something. While some of these Oraclones are a good match for the sage’s value investing model, some are merely very rich. Others appear to have no proven investing savvy at all, suggesting that you too could be a Warren Buffett. all you have to do is change your business card.”

His graphic of some of the most egregious examples can be found here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.