Until 1996, the only frame of reference for journalist researching the Rent-to-Own industry were other journalists who likely got their information from the very vocal consumer advocate community.

Graph showing percent of all Rent to Own industry press references 1993-2007 that were negative. Source: RTO Online, Inc.

A study of national press coverage of the Rent-to-Own (RTO) industry indicates negative references to the industry by nationally syndicated news outlets have have decreased dramatically since 1996, the year RTO Online (www.rtoonline.com) was launched.

An analysis of archived press reports containing common keywords and phrases associated with the rent to own industry shows that although articles referencing the industry have tripled since 1995, the percentage of articles considered negative decreased from a high of 33.54% in 1995 to just 2.43% in 2007.

To qualify as a press reference for the study, an article must have been available online through non-subscription based, publicly viewable news websites.

"Until 1996, the only frame of reference for a journalist researching the Rent-to-Own industry were other journalists who likely got their information from the very vocal consumer advocate community," said Roy Griffaw, founder, president and CEO of RTO Online, Inc. "Rent-to-Own also remained a mystery to the greater retail community because there was no readily available alternative source of information or opinion."

Most news starts with research on the internet. A recent survey of North American editors and reporters by Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC), demonstrates how the internet influences the tone and editorial direction of reporting. Over 75% of reporters questioned by Omnicom use the internet to develop story ideas, story angles and, more importantly, to gain insight into the tone of an issue.

A recent example of how reporters gather information for story ideas is the Buffalo News. The News was awarded the The Freedom Forum's 2007 Excellence in Urban Journalism Award for its four-day series entitled "The High Cost of Being Poor". The series focused on check-cashers, rent-to-own stores and insurance agencies and bore striking similarities to the Annie E. Casey Foundation's report of the same title "The High Cost of Being Poor; Another Perspective on Helping Low-Income Families Get By and Get Ahead" published four years earlier in 2003.

History shows that in the absence of information, news outlets read each other and the negativity feeds on itself. By remaining independent and providing an alternative view of the Rent-to-Own industry through trade news and editorial content, RTO Online has helped give the RTO industry's 50,000 professionals a voice and spread the simple message that Rent to Own represents value for consumers, entrepreneurs, investors and retailers.

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About RTO Online
RTO Online, Inc. is the leading online publisher of rental-purchase trade news, editorial and other original content on www.rtoonline.com. The Company also publishes a bi-monthly trade magazine - RTO MAGAZINE (www.rtomagazine.com), the most widely distributed print publication in the rental purchase sector.