Consumer Law

Hartford Courant Consumer Columnist Laid Off

By Jeff Sovern

Sad news for those who care about consumer protection: the Hartford Courant has laid off consumer columnist George Gombossy. According to the Times coverage, Gombossy attributes his firing to his refusal to stop criticizing advertisers.  The Courant claims the position was eliminated and that Gombossy "was not interested in a different position, which would focus on consumer complaints and not investigative work . . . ."  Gombossy continues to write at http://ctwatchdog.com/.  The incident may shed some light on why so few papers have consumer protection columns, and on the wisdom of the Consumer Reports policy of not accepting advertising.

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on August 22, 2009 (boomark / email).