Toronto Star business columnist David Olive writes in Wednesday’s newspaper that former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay, currently on trial in Houston, has been correct in his testimony in blaming the media for the company’s downfall. Lay has blamed The Wall Street Journal, in particular, for being on a witch hunt to bring the company down.
“I like to think of myself as the Hemingway of the writing world, but I don’t say so because only authority figures of presumed wealth and unsurpassed intellect (Lay has a doctorate in economics) are accorded legitimacy in making sometimes-outlandish claims.
“The media’s sin in the Enron saga was to give the company a free ride during a stratospheric-growth phase in the 1990s, despite or perhaps because of opaque financial reporting and arrogant managers.
“Instead of probing Enron’s corrupt culture while there was still a company to save, journalists at Forbes, Time and Fortune, among others, showered the firm with heavy praise.”
Read the rest of Olive’s column here. Gee, if it weren’t for the short sellers telling the media something was amiss with Enron, do you think the company will still be humming along? (Note extreme sarcasm.)
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