ConsumerMan to the Rescue

With all the choices given to consumers today, some are bound to be fraudulent. It takes one man to expose the wrongs of these choices. That man is ConsumerMan. Also known as Herb Weisbaum, Syracuse University '74, ConsumerMan is the specialty reporter who looks out for the consumers. Weisbaum knows he has a lot of power as a consumer reporter, but he also knows how to use that power.

"The power is there," Weisbaum said. "You can change things, you can have an affect with the stories you do. That's an incredible power."

Weisbaum returned to his alma mater Wednesday as part of ongoing ceremonies to dedicate Newhouse III. ConsumerMan also spoke about the number of options consumers have in choosing what to watch each day.

“You don’t feel guilty not watching the news [today]. When we were younger, we felt guilty not watching the news. [It’s] pretty sad because how do you run democracy if the people who are voting are not educated as to what the issues of the day were?”

He appeared in several Newhouse classes, including John Nicholson’s RTN 311/364 section, where Dave Cohen and Bob Costas soon followed. Costas had just finished hosting the first hour of also notable SU alum Mike Tirico’s first radio show in his new slot on ESPN Radio. Both Costas and Tirico have an added stake in Newhouse III. Both have their own classrooms: Costas Corner and the Mike and Deb Tirico Classroom.