Kennedy and Cronkite

While scanning the internet for interesting reading material, I came across a book "About Why business people speak like idiots". The excerpts to this book bring out some interesting historical perspective giving a powerful example of an incident that has etched into the psyche of the American memory, thanks to a broadcast journalist by the name of Walter Cronkite. What you read in the 'Cronkite' example is just the opposite of how the idiots do it; without any double-speak or jargon, he connects with a nation to share in their grief.

Here is the excerpt that I selected.

"What has been called the 'most moving and historic' passage in broadcast history - and it's hard to say otherwise - was a sharp departure from the rehearsed and stiff television of its era... News of the shooting broke an hour earlier, and there were unconfirmed reports that President Kennedy had been fatally wounded. Cronkite himself had delivered that momentous news, breaking into the soap opera As the World Turns. But it was this segment that got inside of everyone watching. Decades later, it has the same effect. There's no doubt that Kennedy's death would have moved the nation no matter who reported it, and others did, nonstop for days, but Cronkite's broadcast is the one of record. Why?"

Walter Cronkite choked up on the most important broadcast of his career. It gave the whole audience a license to share their grief. Cronkite went on to become a legend in broadcast news. These are the rare moments when humanity rises above their party affiliation , ideological or religious differences to grieve or celebrate the life of a person who has made his mark and left a lasting legacy.

Even as we salute the advancements made possible by globalization, we are saddened that the gap between the rich and the poor continue to increase. In the mixed up world that we live today, greed, corruption, poverty, religious intolerance and terror has become an alarming problem.

Well, coming back to the book; I get the feeling that this book talks about an epidemic applicable especially to business but generally to other sectors as well. Today much of the world is dominated by the free market system of capitalism based on intense competition.. It seems business people cannot talk or give out a report without disclaimers or sugar-coating what they have to say. Go on and look into company accounts or attend an annual general meeting and you'll know the kind of deceptive and hard-to-understand lingo that is used . In order to impress an audience the idot, when he has nothing worth saying will talk about the "value proposition, ecosystems and generate concepts " that will create fog in the mind of the listener.

It is no wonder that Enron, the worlds biggest energy giant named by Forbes magazine consecutively as"America’s Most Innovative Company" for six consecutive years, became the largest corporate bankrupcy in US history causing millions of dollars of loss to shareholders and investors.