When a writer isn’t paid by Consumers Digest

Consumers Digest Business journalist Chuck Jaffe, the editor of RagingBull.com, writes about how he hasn’t been paid for stories he wrote for Consumers Digest.

Jaffe writes, “I wrote for Consumers Digest in the past; payment wasn’t always prompt, but it always arrived. So I took on one story last fall for the January issue, and then a second story due in the spring; normally, I don’t accept second assignments until the first is been paid, but the work was timely and Consumers Digests’ editors said there was no reason to believe my missing payment was anything but late.

“I promised to deliver, and did; I was taught that good journalists don’t accept assignments and leave editors hanging, no matter the reason.

[You can find the stories on the ConsumersDigest.com web site here and here.]

“Consumers Digest publisher Randy Weber tried to convince me that payment was coming; in e-mails he acknowledged the debt, promised payment, and volunteered to pay interest at a clip of 1 percent per month. He said in phone calls that this was a temporary cash-flow situation, and promised a plan for partial payments.

“The magazine owes me $7,400 for the two pieces, without interest. More than half of that money was owed, contractually, as of last January; the rest was due in mid-July.

“I paid roughly 10 percent of what I am owed to hire an attorney and file suit; Consumers Digest has not responded to the court paperwork, and my lawyer expects us to have a default judgment soon.”

View Comments

Debra C Borchardt says:
November 29, 2017 at 1:46 pm
My court date is next week. I expect I will win, but I don't expect I will ever see my money. I worry they will declare bankruptcy and not pay any of us. The most I hope is that we can warn enough reporters out there to not work with Consumers Digest.
- Brett Martin says:
  December 5, 2017 at 10:02 pm
  Hi Debra and Chuck,
  I'm dealing with the exact same experience. I wrote for the magazine for about seven years. Payment was never prompt, but it would eventually make its way to my mailbox. Until this year. I'm also having problems collecting. Randy Weber repeatedly promised to send a check within 10 days, then didn't do it, didn't follow up, and didn't return calls or emails. The editors who didn't have any problems communicating when they needed something or had questions went silent when I needed help getting paid and when I asked them why they continue hiring freelancers when they know full well those writers won't get paid. It's fraud, from top to bottom.