Behind the Scenes at Consumer Reports

Behind the Scenes at Consumer Reports, with Tobie Stanger

Wednesday, Feb. 12 1pm

Consumer Reports has been providing unbiased, trustworthy and comprehensive information about consumer products for nearly 90 years. It is still the gold standard for the many consumer product sites that now dispense advice. Tobie, a staff reporter and editor at its nationally renowned magazine for 33 of those years, takes us behind the scenes at their famed testing labs. How do they test products scientifically and without bias favoring any particular company? Why are they different than the many other consumer product outlets out there now? But CR is not just about tangible products. They also are a reliable source for evaluating services like credit cards and banks and on how to utilize important protections, such as internet security. Proudest of her work exposing scams aimed at older people, she’ll talk about some of these stories and update them for us. Today a key question is how can an outlet that accepts no advertising or corporate funding and is nearly completely dependent on subscriptions, survive in this highly competitive media environment? Tobie welcomes any specific questions regarding your individual consumer issues or problems and will try to provide some guidance on solutions or agencies you might appeal to.