The Enviable Position of Writing a Fortune Envy List
Bad news: The latest Fortune eschews any hopes you might have had for original wealth coverage in favor of the favorite fallback of writers and editors everywhere, The Listicle. Before your eyes glaze over, note that this listicle — the Envy List — is different. Instead of being based on data, numbers, or facts, the Envy List is merely a rundown of the power brokers who Fortune folks simply envy. Jealousy is the new reportage!
So far as we can tell, the Envy List is just a casual knock-off of any old Power List, dressed up with a dash of pop culture and then recycled into new content with a $4.99 cover price. Classic magazine method writing, really, but not worth the cost. The only ones we're jealous of are the Fortune editors, who actually got paid to sit around and talk about how they wish they were the Google guys or Gwen Stefani. Christ, we do that shit for free all the time.
