Art & Creativity Quote by Allan Sloan

There is a sly confession tucked inside Sloan's tidy list of perks: the job isn't just to report business, it's to own the frame. In an era when "business journalism" can mean relaying quarterly earnings like weather, Sloan describes the columnist's role as a license to interpret - and, just as importantly, to be accountable for the interpretation. "Attribute it to myself" sounds almost throwaway, but it's the line that gives the passage its spine. He's naming a bargain with the reader: you're not getting the illusion of neutral, institutional voice; you're getting a person, with a point of view, staking his name on the call.

The intent is part professional autobiography, part defense of a craft that has always been slightly suspect in business coverage. Columns sit in a blurry zone between reporting and commentary, which is precisely why Sloan leans so hard on autonomy: pick the topic, do the analysis, say what you want. That isn't adolescent freedom; it's a method for resisting the agenda-setting power of companies, PR shops, and market hype. He implies that independence is not a luxury but a survival trait.

The subtext of "write in my own voice" is also about trust. Voice is the only durable differentiator in a crowded information economy, and it carries an ethical signal: consistency, judgment, a recognizable set of priorities. Sloan isn't claiming omniscience; he's claiming authorship. In business, where numbers can be weaponized and certainty is constantly faked, that kind of signed, personal scrutiny is the point.