Shop companies affiliated with trade groups demanding members follow a code of ethics and the law. The industry has a responsibility to watch the watchdogs. If the media doesn't get it right, if it sensationalizes the issue or otherwise uses a broad brush to paint a story that demands closer scrutiny and a fair and balanced account, Zeltzer says speak up. Write the reporter a letter. Send the journalist an e-mail.
Professional journalists welcome factual input.
Give them a call. Zeltzer also advises lender groups to lobby legislators against passing laws that shut down the industry. His article's one shortcoming is that it doesn't tell industry members to press law enforcement agencies to shut down predatory lenders. Now Leaking Out Broderick Perkins has been a consumer journalist for 23 years. Experienced in daily print, electronic, and consulting journalism, he is executive editor of San Jose, CA-based, DeadlineNews.