CBS Evening News has zero standards for balance and quality.  The show ran a story about payday lending, contacted the industry for an interview, but then chose not to interview anyone from the industry’s side.   We also know for a fact that the show interviewed a happy customer outside a store in Los Angeles.  They chose not to run that interview either.

It’s disgraceful and yet another example of why the mainstream media is losing credibility.

This article by the Business and Media Institute, ‘CBS Evening News’ ignores borrower responsibility in hit piece on short-term lenders, critiques “Evening News” correspondent Armen Keteyian’s July 28th hit piece and points out that nearly 20 million American households utilize payday lending services to make an emergency car repair, cover a variety of other costs or avoid bounced check fees.

They say that calls requesting comment from Mary Bates (the customer interviewed for the CBS Evening News) on the apparent contradiction were not immediately returned. Bates had previously been quoted as saying, “Payday loans are really convenient and they help people get out of a bind…It’s less of a hassle. I really liked the people and they provided me a great service.”

The Business & Media Institute, a division of the Media Research Center, is nonprofit watchdog organization that strives to bring balance and responsibility to the media.