News Comment #5

The Infuriating Reason Wells Fargo Got Away With Its Massive Scam For So Long

This article covered the recent Wells Fargo scandal and discussed how the company was able to keep its scamming under wraps for so long. The company has been scamming its customers by opening up banking and credit card accounts in their customers’ names without their consent. Many employees felt the need to do this in order to meet their sales goals. The company wasn’t caught sooner because its customers aren’t able to band together and file class action law suits against the bank (as stated in the fine print on their agreement). This makes it extremely hard to take on the banks and make changes. The article then goes on to discuss what could happen as a result of this multiyear scam and what this means for customers and banks in the future.

The lead is a little bit lengthy but it gains attention and gives background. However, I found it interesting that the article waited until the sixth paragraph to explain the headline and the lead. Instead of explaining the lead in the next paragraph, the author decided to give background on the story instead. I’m not sure which kind of organization would have been best in this case.

I think the author made some unfair assumptions about the education level of her readers. For example, the author used terms such as CFPB, GOP, and arbitration, terms that I don’t know off the top of my head and had to look up. Because of this reason and others, I feel like the author was speaking a little above some peoples’ heads at times.

This article was newsworthy due to proximity and impact. Millions of people were affected by this scandal and there are Wells Fargo companies throughout the country that are impacted.

Source

Comments

  1. Question leads are kind of a cop out. But if you use one, make sure it’s not a yes/no question. And, as you point out, it should be answered soon/immediately. I’ve never been thrilled with HuffPo writing. Good discussion, Maggie.

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