ConsumerAffairs.com

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ConsumerAffairs.com is an “an independent consumer news center,” that publishes original and reprinted reporting on complaints about consumer products and services.

The site compiles “consumer news, recall information and thousands of pages of consumer complaints” along with assigned articles from writers including Martin H. Bosworth, Dan Schlossberg, Mark Huffman and Lisa Wade McCormick.

ConsumerAffairs.com stories are published on the Web and syndicated to hundreds of Websites around the world using RSS. Dozens of stories originally published on ConsumerAffairs.com have been picked up and rebroadcast by consumer reporters at local news stations around the country.

ConsumerAffairs.com also reprints press releases and other alerts from the Consumer Product Safety Commission and other public sources.

The site was started in 1998 by James R. Hood, a former public relations executive and Associated Press reporter.

ConsumerAffairs.com states that, “The ads are the only source of revenue our Web site has.”

James R. Hood also owns a specialized web design agency, Oakton Press, which builds and maintains websites for various plaintiff’s attorneys including Horwitz, Horwitz & Associates, a national tort law firm based in Chicago.

[edit] Independence Questioned

While the Website has published numerous reputable articles, it has also engendered a great deal of skepticism about its methods and the transparency of its business model. The site contains a disclaimer stating, “ConsumerAffairs.com Inc. makes no representation as to the accuracy of the information herein provided and assumes no liability for any damages or loss arising from the use thereof.”

According to a recent CNS News article, ConsumerAffairs.com works in conjunction with plaintiff’s law firms, including Horwitz, Horwitz & Associates. ConsumerAffairs also lists a California address and phone number that is identical to that of William Muhr, a plaintiff’s firm with about 50 lawyers in a dozen states that specializes in consumer and class action claims.

In the CNSNews.com article, James R. Hood stated, “The Horwitz firm reviews the complaints that come in and occasionally files a class action law suit. They use our database to get ideas.” Hood also explained that those same law firms channel contributions through his non-profit arm, ConsumerAffairs.org, although he declined to say how much. Notably, the organization doesn’t reveal that the sources of its stories are often litigants or that they are referred to law firms as part of the process.

A notice on the site states, “Complaints and consumer reports to ConsumerAffairs.com may be considered a request for legal advice and/or a request for a free consultation with an attorney to whom we may refer you.”

The Society for Professional Journalists has a code of ethics governing the reporting techniques in question. The SPJ code states, “Identify sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources’ reliability.” It also advises, “distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two.”