Consumer Reports blasted by one of its own

Source: Sierra Club listserver


April 20, 1999

Brian Ross
Chief Investigative Reporter, 20/20
ABC
157 Columbus Ave.
New York, NY 10023

Your "expose" last night on the Consumer Reports baby bottle story was the worst news magazine segment I've ever seen. I say this as someone who worked at CR for 12 years and knows something about the place. You were suckered (all too willingly, I'm sure) by Consumers Union and gave CU's irresponsible story even wider publicity. Let's count just a few of the ways you screwed up:

In your zeal to be sensationalistic (TV journalism sure doesn't get much better than dire threats to infants), you not only scared millions of people unnecessarily, but you managed to overlook the real story: the transmogrification of CU over the past 10 years from an organization that helped to educate the public about what was truly risky and what wasn't...to a group determined to scare people about risks that in reality pose negligible or nonexistent dangers. This lamentable evolution is largely the handiwork of your partner in baby-bottle bashing, Dr. Ned Groth.

One more thing, Mr. Ross: Did you ever ask Dr. Groth what might happen if all the infants now using plastic baby bottles were to switch to glass, an option you offer in your report? I have a 14-month-old infant who delights in throwing his bottle from his stroller and high chair and probably does so 10 or 12 times a day. I guarantee you: A lot of cuts, gouges and overall bloodletting will occur when thousands of these bottles start breaking. Some might even argue that the all-too-predictable risk from using glass bottles outweighs the entirely hypothetical risk of using unbreakable plastic bottles containing bisphenol-A.

Don't feel bad about not asking that question: It's just one of many omissions in a really sloppy reporting job. But hey--you got the lead story last night, and what can be wrong with that?

Sincerely,

Larry Katzenstein

cc: Victor Neufeld, executive producer


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