Interesting Episode of the Week

Wal-Mart decided this week it would not sell the [Pensacola] News Journal because of a piece by Mark O'Brien... They had originally tried to get the reporter fired.

Here is some inflammatory text from the story: "I like Wal-Mart prices the same as the next shopper, but there's a downside, too. Many Wal-Mart employees lack the fringe benefits and insurance that makes the difference between existence and a good quality of life. Yet, we customers pay a surcharge from a different pocket -- subsidizing health care for Wal-Mart employees who can't afford it."

To their credit, the management of the paper defended O'Brien, with his editor saying: "I might understand it if Wal-Mart said I ought to fire Mark because what he said wasn't accurate. But that isn't the case. Mark accurately reported that there are 10,000 children of Wal-Mart employees in a health-care program that is costing Georgia taxpayers nearly $10 million a year."

After determining that this move was not a positive brand-building exercise, Wal-Mart has now decided to sell the paper in their stores.