Padioleau is a sociologist of businwaa organization who wrote a comparative analysis of Le Monde and the Washington Post based on his on-site research in the 1970s. His study of the Post is an admiring portrait of how Ben Bradliee led that newspaper in its celebrated era of Watergate. The book describes how Bradlee communicated his news values to reporters and editors, inspired a competitive entrepeurial spirit in the newsroom and gave them freedom to take risks with accountability if they failed.