Normally, this blog does not dive into the minutiae of a single company, since it does little to guide one's thinking about the world. Once in a while, however, personal knowledge offers the chance to consider how media spin can distort one's perception. For example, recently the AP published an article by Rachel Konrad on Carly Fiorina, Mark Hurd and HP. The article battles vainly to attribute the turnaround at HP to groundwork laid by Fiorina.

Little could be further from true. Indeed, Fiorina launched one of the more storied and controverisial corporate takeovers in recent history. Ms. Konrad takes that merger as somehow inevitable and credits Hurd for little more than continuing Fiorina's vision. "Although HP Chief Executive Mark Hurd can take responsibility for the company’s financial success in recent quarters, some observers say Fiorina, who was fired as CEO 18 months ago, deserves some credit for the earnings growth that has propelled the computer maker’s stock to a new yearly high."

"Some observers," you ask? "Which observers are those?" None other than Roger L. Kay, President, Endpoint Technologies Associates, Inc.

"Who," you continue, pathetically?

Hard to tell. He appears to run a 1-man show from Massachusetts. The reader might wonder where Mr. Kay's funding comes from. The reader might even wonder, gosh, with Carly's book due out any day now, could her publisher be paying Mr. Kay? Well, how about it Roger L. Kay? Who pays your salary for this insight?

But the AP deserves the bulk of the blame here. One might wonder, could Mark Hurd have achieved anything if HP hadn't bought Compaq? Would Compaq, in fact, even still exist? Or would they perhaps, still be available for half the price? Hard questions to answer, but questions worth asking before citing the only observer who sees fit to give Fiorina as much credit as Hurd.