May 19, 2022 – HearingTracker has appointed Karl Strom as its new Editor in Chief. Strom will join HearingTracker Founder and President Abram Bailey, AuD, and his staff in delivering quality content on the nation's leading independent shopping resource for hearing aids and other hearing solutions.
Strom is the former Editor in Chief of The Hearing Review magazine and website, and has been reporting on hearing healthcare issues for over 25 years. As a founding editor of Hearing Review in 1994 and original general manager of the monthly publication, he has worked with many of the most prominent audiologists, hearing aid specialists, ENTs, acousticians, researchers and engineers, market experts, and business and organization leaders in the field. Over four decades, he has served as a reliable and respected source of information, creating and editing thousands of articles, as well as generating surveys, special editions, e-newsletters, podcasts, webinars, and more.
“I’m excited to have Karl join HearingTracker,” says Dr. Bailey. “Like many in hearing healthcare, I have benefitted from his work and insights through the years, and he will complement our growing enterprise that already includes a diverse mix of talented writers and content producers like Carly Sygrove, Kristen Fischer, Julia Métraux, Brad Ingrao, Angela Flores, Steve Taddei, Tina Sieber, Matthew Allsop, and Shari Eberts. Karl will be working closely with me, our CTO Brian Deterling, and Martin Riedi who heads up our Market and Business Insight division. We’re planning on bringing some new and extremely exciting resources to hearing healthcare in the next couple of years. I can’t think of many people who know and appreciate the industry, its products, its people, and the unique challenges—both for our market and for consumers with hearing loss—better than Karl.”
“I have known Abram and watched HearingTracker’s progress for almost 10 years, and believe HT will become a central online hub for all things hearing,” says Strom. “I see HT as an incredibly important and comprehensive resource for consumers. The main reason I joined Abram and his team is that far too few people with hearing difficulties are adopting quality amplification or other suitable interventions. It’s well known that too many delay action or, for a variety of reasons, choose inaction. Even those who do take action can easily venture into inappropriate substandard devices or treatments—wasting their time, money, and zeal for a better life. The goal of HearingTracker is to get them on the right track tailored for their own unique proclivities, hearing loss, and life needs.”
Strom will continue to work from his home office in Duluth, Minn. Besides hearing healthcare, he has a passion for baseball, hiking and camping, skiing, golf, and getting humiliated in basketball by his two teenage sons. He invites you to reach out to him at his new email address: karl@hearingtracker.com.
About HearingTracker
HearingTracker was established by Dr. Bailey in 2013 as the world’s first truly-independent shopping resource for hearing aid consumers. Prior to HearingTracker, there was no online resource that allowed consumers to provide written feedback and ratings on specific hearing aid models. Information was very limited, and at the time, consumers had almost no way to do their own product research. Often the only resources available were the marketing materials produced by the hearing aid companies themselves. The original www.hearingtracker.com website has since added:
- The Audiologist Informer - a special once-daily newsletter that crams 24-hours-worth of important hearing and audiology-related news into a friendly and relaxing email that takes less than one minute to skim
- YouTube Channel and Podcast - run by audiologists Matthew Allsop and Steve Taddei, HearingTracker offers real expert reviews, increasingly supported by objective lab data and recordings
- The Hearing Aid Forum - the largest and most active community of hearing aid users on the internet
- Hearing Aid Directory - a continually updated resource of available hearing devices complete with retail prices and customer reviews
- Hearing Aid Wizard - a system that matches consumers with hearing aids that are most suitable for their listening and technology needs
- Expert Answers - a Quora-like question-and-answer platform, operated by real licensed hearing experts
- Hearing News - breaking news about hearing aids, hearing loss, cochlear implants, and more
- Provider Directory - a comprehensive directory of hearing clinics, filterable by hearing aid brands and professional services
