Hope found in Forbes Most Powerful People
Laura Howell
Issue date: 11/20/09 Section: Opinion
The Forbes.com list of the World's Most Powerful People was recently released. The list, compiled of 67 people, one for every 100 million people on the planet, is filled with a wide range of people.
From America's president to a drug trafficker and everyone in between, the list is quite varied. I'll admit that I was quite surprised to see some of the people that appeared on the list and the slot at which they ranked.
Forbes.com states that for someone to be qualified for the list they must have power in four dimensions. First, influence over many people; second, financial affluence; third, power in multiple spheres; and fourth, active use of the power. Five Forbes senior editors ranked the candidates, and these averages were used to determine where a person ranked on the list.
Not surprisingly, President Barack Obama was listed first as the world's most powerful person. According to Forbes.com this decision was unanimous and based on a wide margin.
Most surprisingly to me, 78-year-old Rupert Murdoch was ranked number seven on the list. I was pretty excited about this.
As a soon-to-graduate student very concerned with the future of print journalism, I was slightly reassured to see Murdoch rank high on the list.
Murdoch is the Chairman of the News Corp. and is described on Forbes.com as "the man who owns the news." Forbes.com adds that he "still believes in print."
I've been told time and time again that print is a dying profession, and asked if I realized this as I interviewed various people in the business world for my summer internship at The Ledger.
For the record, yes, I am aware that print journalism is up in the air, and yes, I wish to continue with that path because it is something that I enjoy. Well, something that I enjoy aside from those doomsday commentators.
But I think there's some hope when the powerhouse behind big British, Australian and American Newspapers (The Wall Street Journal) sees a use for print journalism.
From America's president to a drug trafficker and everyone in between, the list is quite varied. I'll admit that I was quite surprised to see some of the people that appeared on the list and the slot at which they ranked.
Forbes.com states that for someone to be qualified for the list they must have power in four dimensions. First, influence over many people; second, financial affluence; third, power in multiple spheres; and fourth, active use of the power. Five Forbes senior editors ranked the candidates, and these averages were used to determine where a person ranked on the list.
Not surprisingly, President Barack Obama was listed first as the world's most powerful person. According to Forbes.com this decision was unanimous and based on a wide margin.
Most surprisingly to me, 78-year-old Rupert Murdoch was ranked number seven on the list. I was pretty excited about this.
As a soon-to-graduate student very concerned with the future of print journalism, I was slightly reassured to see Murdoch rank high on the list.
Murdoch is the Chairman of the News Corp. and is described on Forbes.com as "the man who owns the news." Forbes.com adds that he "still believes in print."
I've been told time and time again that print is a dying profession, and asked if I realized this as I interviewed various people in the business world for my summer internship at The Ledger.
For the record, yes, I am aware that print journalism is up in the air, and yes, I wish to continue with that path because it is something that I enjoy. Well, something that I enjoy aside from those doomsday commentators.
But I think there's some hope when the powerhouse behind big British, Australian and American Newspapers (The Wall Street Journal) sees a use for print journalism.
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