A style guide for writing about the rich
For use in all publications
HOW TO WRITE ABOUT THE RICH (see below for explanation)
1: Do not broadly attribute a company’s work to their owner/CEO.
2: It is always relevant to note how people have accumulated wealth, and who they have harmed to do so. Never omit it.
3: Be skeptical and don’t just publish a wealthy person’s claims or without doing due diligence or offering a critical corollary.
4: Don’t trip over yourself to humanize a rich person and make them look good — you’re a journalist, not a PR person.
5: Don’t let it all be about them.
6: It’s not fucking news if a rich person likes Rick and Morty or whatever.
7: If you’re writing from a place of personal perspective, you should write about them with the same bilious contempt they have for human life.
Today, the news is dominated by Elon Musk running victory laps after the successful launch of the most powerful rocket since the Space Shuttle. The launch — an admittedly impressive technical achievement that can be more accurately attributed to years of hard work by engineers and scientists rather than the whims of a rich, bored douchebag — has naturally inspired quite a degree of excitement.
