Sparks Fly Over Wal-Mart PR

Submitted by Bob Burton on

After Hill & Knowlton contacted community newspaper editors on behalf of Wal-Mart Stores informing them "Wal-Mart representatives were available for interviews," Mike Buffington, the president of the National Newspaper Association (NMA), let fly. "So why is it that community newspapers in America are good enough to help you fend off critics with free PR, but we're not good enough for your paid advertising? You can't have it both ways," Buffington wrote to Wal-Mart. In a column in the NMA newsletter Publishers Auxiliary, Buffington, who is also a publisher of community papers in Georgia, complained that a side-effect of Wal-Mart undercutting local small business was that "advertising dollars disappear from community newspapers." The Business Ledger notes that Buffington's comments have attracted some criticism for implying "a 'you pay or we don’t cover you' attitude."

Main Source: 
The Business Ledger, April 4, 2005
Topics: 
Corporations
Media
Public Relations

Comments

eross replied on

The letter by Buffington is posted at ReclaimDemocracy.org, with links to an amazing library of articles and documents on Walmart Corporation: http://reclaimdemocracy.org/walmart/newspaper_association_letter.php

Bob Burton replied on

Thanks Eric, Thanks for the tip. I have added a link to the letter into the Spin article and SourceWatch articles too. Feel free to add links like that directly into SourceWatch articles yourself if you like. (If you aren't sure how to get started in SW after having a look at the help files drop me a line). Cheers - bob