The Red and Black

By TOM LASSETER The Red & Black

Buyer beware. There are reports in and around metro Atlanta of University students selling magazine subscriptions to earn Grady College of Journalism internships to the British Broadcasting System. The problem is there is no such internship program. That's the word from William Lee, a University journalism professor, who said his name was dragged into what he called a bogus magazine sales scheme in Cobb, Fulton and Cherokee counties. Lee said he's received phone calls from angry would-be subscribers who were told the program was under Lee's direction. The professor said the Grady College isn't connected to any such program, and didn't know how to respond to people complaining the tactic was inappropriate. "This is a complete and total fraud," Lee said. "It's totally bizarre." The University's Office of Legal Affairs plans to contact the Attorney General's office about the alleged scheme, said Fred Dawkins, the office's associate director. The sales people making the door-to-door pitches claimed to be working for World Wide Circulation Inc., a Michigan-based subscription clearinghouse. World Wide Circulation pays its sellers, independent contractors, by a combination of commissions and free trips overseas. The company's spokeswoman said the office has received a lot of the same complaints Lee had. "We are not a part of any school and our representatives are not supposed to say they are," said Teresa Brisendine, World Wide Circulation spokeswoman. Brisendine said the business' receipts declare, in bold-faced red, that it's not associated with any charity. The Michigan Better Business Bureau said it has no complaints on file for the company.

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