Christmas is a time of giving and TV news reporters certainly took
that opportunity to give it to Wal-Mart. Following a jury ruling
that went against the worlds largest retailer, journalists put the
company on the naughty list as CNNs Rick Sanchez called it.
The day after the verdict, network morning shows relied
on the lawyer from the group suing Wal-Mart, a retail expert who has
been critical of the company and even a clip from the anti-Wal-Mart
movie. None of the shows made the connection between the ongoing
attacks against the retailer, the couple dozen workplace lawsuits
and the organized union campaign against Wal-Mart.
Sanchez kicked off the American Morning report by
saying Wal-Mart again? They cant step out of it. While Sanchezs
introduction begged the question, Why? CNN and all four other
networks failed to give an answer.
The obvious answer is that the retailer isnt unionized
and there is an international union push to change that. According
to the December 5 USA Today, In just the past year, two
union-backed groups have formed with the shared mission of
challenging the megaretailer's business, labor, environmental and
social standards.
The article mentioned two such groups:
WakeUpWalMart.com, which is funded by the United Food and Commercial
Workers International union, and Wal-Mart Watch, run by Service
Employees International Union President Andrew Stern. None of the
morning shows made the tie-in.
WakeUpWalMart.com claims it is about Americans joining
together in common purpose to change Wal-Mart. There is only one
force powerful enough to change the #1 Fortune 500 company in the
world the American people. But the organization was also behind
screenings of the anti-Wal-Mart movie, numerous PR stunts against
Wal-Mart and union activists have been pushing many of the suits
against the company.
Peter Alexander of NBCs Today, treated the various
attacks like they were separate instead of a concerted operation.
The world's biggest public company has also become one of its
biggest targets, facing recent lawsuits for benefits, claims of
discrimination and this new critical documentary, he said.
Alexander added that, as a result, Wal-Mart's public image has
suffered.
Today included a clip of the anti-Wal-Mart film,
Wal-Mart: The Cost of Low Price. None of the morning shows
mentioned the pro-Wal-Mart film that came out at about the same
time, continuing a trend documented in a previous
Business & Media Institute report.
ABCs Good Morning America reporter Taina Hernandez showed the danger of using experts, saying, analysts say the superstore has taken some short cuts. She then brought on industry analyst Burt Flickinger who criticized the company for the lawsuits against it. Forty major lawsuits may not be wrong, and in an industry thats typically non-litigious Wal-Mart leads the league in litigation or lawsuits. So where theres smoke, theres often fire.
According to
The New York Times, Flickinger is a retail consultant who has
followed the company for years. But, while following Wal-Mart,
Flickinger has also criticized the firm on several occasions
including knocking its security policies and comparing corporate
operations to the actions of Chinese dictator Mao Zedong. Flickinger
was also quoted in an article on the WakeUpWalMart.com Web site
urging the company to pay its workers more, one of the things the
unions want.
In that May 4, 2005, article entitled Can't Wal-Mart,
a Retail Behemoth, Pay More? Flickinger said, By paying higher
wages, Wal-Mart will make its employees happier and will reduce
turnover. A lot of its new workers, for instance, don't know where
to stock things. Higher wages will mean more productivity per
person, and that should help raise profits.
Flickinger also compared Wal-Mart to one of the
deadliest dictators in history during his April 4, 2004, appearance
on CBS Evening News, Wal-Mart's really effected what we call a
Mao Zedong strategy that was used in Communist China, conquer the
countryside first and leave the cities for last.
