Longtime consumer reporter Horowitz dies at 81

David Horowitz

David Horowitz, whose “Fight Back!” syndicated program made him perhaps the best-known consumer reporter in the United State, has died. He was 81.

An AP story states, “In 1987, Horowitz was taken hostage during a KNBC-TV broadcast by a gunman with mental problems. The journalist read the man’s statements on camera although the hostage-taker didn’t realize the broadcast had been cut. The weapon turned out to be an empty BB gun.

“The experience led Horowitz to join a successful campaign to outlaw realistic-looking toy guns in California and other states.

“His reporting was criticized by some consumer advocates and reporters as being too concerned with showmanship and less-serious consumer concerns, such as whether a particular popcorn brand lived up to its advertising.

“But the Chicago Tribune noted in 1987 that Horowitz waged successful campaigns to remove life-threatening sulfites from salad bars and to require automakers to install rear window collision-avoidance lights. He was honored by consumer groups and in 1981 became the first newsman to receive the Chief U.S. Postal Inspector’s Award for uncovering mail fraud, the Tribune reported.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.