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Showing posts with the label Consumers Union

Consumer Reports (Again): Will MSNBC Investigate?

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...I believe that good journalism, good television, can make our world a better place. And I really believe good journalism is good business. --Christiane Amanpour Yesterday, I was reading on the MSNBC site an article about the death of heiress Huguette Clark, when at the bottom of the page, I saw a form, calling for possible investigative news pieces, so I shot off the following: Hello, In its June 2011 issue, in its article "Pick your ideal diet," Consumer Reports selected Jenny Craig as the top diet plan. Unfortunately, they selected a study that had been financially supported by Jenny Craig. There are other problems with their research methodology, for example, only Jenny Craig was studied in this particular trial. So I wrote a rebuttal on my blog, picking apart their methodology: http://www.thoughtfortheday.us/2011/05/thought-for-day-may-12-2011-shame-on.html I also wrote some follow up posts: http://www.thoughtfortheday.us/2011/05/thought-for-day-may-13

Thought for the Day--May 14, 2011: Watching the Watchdog? A Call for Consumers Union Action: A Plea for Transparent Research Protocols

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I think it's a good thing that there are bloggers out there watching very closely and holding people accountable. Everyone in the news should be able to hold up to that kind of scrutiny. I'm for as much transparency in the news gathering process as possible. --Anderson Cooper For my May 12 post Shame on You, Consumer Reports... , I was surprised at how difficult it was to track down Consumer Reports' primary research source for its diet rankings in the June 2011 issue ("Pick Your Ideal Diet"). I cite two reasons: 1. Consumer Reports omitted the name of the author and title of their primary source, the very source used to "edge" Jenny Craig into First Place. (Cheryl Rock, et al; "Effect of a Free Prepared Meal and Incentivized Weight Loss Program on Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance in Obese and Overweight Women." (1803-1810) 2. The CR source appeared in the October 27, 2011, issue of JAMA, which published 2 articles and 2 op

Memoir Madness: Driven to Involuntary Commitment