Sometimes newspaper headline writers make it too easy for people to generalize about "the media". A case in point is a headline in today's Star Tribune: "Consumer fury forcing banks to kill debit fees".
Are all consumers furious? Are those consumers who have withdrawn funds "furious" or just annoyed? How many consumers actually withdrew funds? How many sent letters or made calls of annoyance? None of this quantitative data was in the article. The closest is "cited customer feedback".
Of course, if even one percent withdrew funds that would probably get the banks' attention.
The problem is that space doesn't allow easy full-disclosure. Let's see: "Abnormal withdrawal rate kills bank debit fees", "Numerous customer complaints lead banks to kill debit fees", or "Widespread press coverage leads banks to kill debt fees".
