Enron 101 - Letters - Letter to the Editor

Washington Monthly, May, 2002 by Roy Ulrich

Charles Peters claims that Fortune Bethany McLean "was the first journalist to blow the whistle on Enron" ("Tilting at Windmills," March 2002). Actually, the problem is that no journalist blew the whistle on Enron. The collapse was fait accompli by the time the media--and that includes Ms. McLean--got around to reporting it. This follows an established and disturbing pattern: During the 1980s, the press was likewise unable to uncover the massive S&L collapse until after several lending institutions had already collapsed.

By way of comparison, scandals inside government are "easy pickings" for reporters. There are too many inside sources in that venue more than willing to talk. But when it comes to penetrating the goings-on in corporate suites, the media invariably fail to break the story. In Enron's case, the media told us about the precipitous stock price decline as it was happening, not before. The business press should become concerned enough about this alarming trend that their next logical step would be to offer a new training program: "How to spot corporate meltdowns before it's too late."

ROY ULRICH
Los Angeles, Calif.