Corrupt media featuring Wal Mart 'ads' as NEWS

Corrupt media featuring Wal Mart 'ads' as NEWS

money.cnn.com

Four Pepsi 12-packs, for example, are available for $10, a 30% price cut, O'Brien said. Wal-Mart said feeding a Super Bowl party of 10, with chips, pizza, chicken wings and sodas, will cost under $50.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:

www.marketwatch.com

While watching Headline News this morning, I hear CNN go to a 'story' about how WalMart is dropping prices. The story starts and it focuses on how WalMart is dropping prices by 10-30% on items that US families will need for the big super bowl game this weekend. I ask you, how in the hell is this 'news'? This is simply an advertising campaign from WalMart thar the news media is giving them free advertising for.

The follow up to this breaking walmart story was about Ms Spears FYI.

What is it going to take to get genuine news coverage in the USA?

Last night while changing channels, I learned that Fox News covers all the international news of the world in ONE 80 sec clip. And they are PROUD that they can do it all in 80 seconds!

money.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

this is actually part of the news story on cnn.com

"Game fans preparing for the weekend will have savings in store to feed a
party of 10 for under $50!**



ITEM QTY PRICE TOTAL
Pepsi 12-packs 4 4 for $10 $10.00
Tostitos Scoops 12-oz. bags 2 2 for $5 $5.00
with Tostitos 15.5-oz. dip 2 2 for $5 $5.00
DiGiorno 12" pizza 2 2 for $9 $9.00
5-lbs. bag of Tyson frozen
chicken wings 1 $8.88 $8.88
Pringles chips 5 5 for $5 $5
Hillshire Farms Cocktail
Smokies or Ropes 2 2 for $5 $5
with KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce 1 $2 $2
TOTAL $49.88



Stock up, for $6 or less ...

-- Doritos, Lays, Fritos, 12-24 oz. bags, 2 for $6
-- Athletic T-shirts, $5 each
-- 6 rolls of Viva paper towels, $4.86
-- 2 boxes (6 oz.) Colgate Whitening toothpaste, $4
-- $4 prescriptions on more than 360 generic drugs


For $10 or Less ...

-- Sterilite and Rubbermaid storage bins (29-35 gallon) for under $10,
and 12 gallon for $5 each
-- 4 bags (3.5 - 4 lb.) of Iams dog food or 20 13 oz. Iams cans
-- 4 Pepsi 12- packs, 4 for $10


For Under $40 ...

-- 5 gallon Shop Vac, only $29.96 (save 25%)
-- Software Quicken $25 and TurboTax Deluxe, $39.88
-- 45 count OTC Zyrtec available for less than $29


For Under $100 ...

-- RCA Home Theatre System for $98.96
-- Flat Panel TV Stand at $98.88 or Motion LDC Wall Mount for $99.86
-- The Ab Rocket at $99 and the Gold's Gym Inversion System at $94.76 via
www.walmart.com... using Site to Store with free shipping


Even spend big and save, under $800 ...

-- Vizio 32 inch LCD TV at $597
-- RCA or Polaroid 32 inch LCD TV/DVD combo at $683
-- $498 Acer Aspire laptop or HP desktop bundle at $698"

Why in the HELL is this being shown as NEWS

[edit on 29-1-2008 by pavlovsdog]

Originally posted by pavlovsdog
Last night while changing channels, I learned that Fox News covers all the international news of the world in ONE 80 sec clip. And they are PROUD that they can do it all in 80 seconds!

money.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

lol, that says something doesn't it. But at least we all have a coice how we brainwash ourselves these days with te internet.

I wonder how long it will be before our PBS (taxpayer funded) network starts giving us the free walmart ads as well.

Is it any wonder that Americans are becoming more and more un educated and unaware of REAL events going on in the world?

reply to post by pavlovsdog


I watch BBC News on BBCAmerica or PBS when I want world news. That and I come here for a heck of a lot of my news. There are things here that just aren't covered by MSM, things I'm more intrested in, and a lot of the times it breaks before MSM picks it up.

I do the same for world news. It just seems strange to me that a network would be proud that it can deliver the international news in such a manner. They even run a countdown timer in the lower right corner.

I guess thats 'fair and balanced' coverage. Perhaps Bush requested it so he can catch up at the end of the day

The real story here is how did this "news/ad" happen? I live an hour and a half from the Wal-Mart hdqs, and around here it is common knowledge that they get 'placement' on local news. Every time a WM exec breaks wind it's reported as a breath of fresh air.

Ads disguised as news are much more effective than most other types I would think. And money would have to change hands.

Locally, the news is more infomercial than anything else, IMO.

how did this news article/ad get placed

suppositions...

1) A wal Mart exec issued it as a 'press release' and some imbecile at cnn picked it up aoff the wire and ran with it. Obviously his/her journalism training was in deficit

2) Someone was paid to present it as news

What really riles me, onther then just the fact that they are reporting it as news, was the posting of PRICING of items on cnn.com. It's like a newspaper insert for heavens sake. Dont papers charge 'advertising rates' to run that?

If they give me an ad as news I won't watch them anymore.

no wonder that you americans are all fat

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[edit on 29-1-2008 by DontTreadOnMe]

reply to post by Fett Pinkus


we eat what they tell us to eat.


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[edit on 29-1-2008 by DontTreadOnMe]

If the reductions listed where actually for essential food groups rather than for pringles and pepsi then maybe it would be news worthy. Sillies.

I'm a freelance writer and former print journalist. The Wal-Mart example (thanks for the link; I sent them my thoughts in a pithy email) is one of the worst I've seen in a while in terms of blatant pandering to a client.

And, yes, Wal-Mart is a client. Revenues generated from advertising have much to say about what a media entity can and cannot accomplish. At the daily I worked out (withholding name to protect the guilty) we received daily a large bundle of press releases. Our senior editor would sort through the stack and select pertinent ones for insertion in the paper.

The work of transforming a release into a news story ordinarily fell to one of the interns. It's a good way to judge talent. A senior reporter would normally edit the intern's work before submitting the final article to the news room. The overwhelming majority of releases never saw final print, but the ones that did were always, always, connected to a high-end advertising client.

The modern media machine churns out information near-instantly these days. Back when I worked for the newspaper, we put out one edition a day, around 4pm. We tried to maintain a level of professionalism and pertinence, knowing we had one shot a day to get the best news to our readers or lose customers to our competition.

The Internet has changed the nature of information flow. Now you can publish 24/7 and without a finite number of columns to fill. Anything that might be news, is news. Quality is not as important as quantity. And with so much quantity, media outlets now let the general public decide what's important (Britney Spears, anyone?).

That is why Fox News can go around the world in 80-seconds. It's what the viewing masses (not you, nor me) want.

Sad, but true.

Check out my blog: Esoterica in America

AJ,

Thank you for the up close view of how a newsroom works. I suspected it was something similar, but it's always good to hear it 'from the horses mouth' so to speak.

The price ad just blows me over

For those of you from countries other than the USA, perhaps this thread indirectly answers the questions as to 'why Americans are fat and stupid'

For what it's worth, I live in the U.S. now but I was a newspaper journalist in England. The media dumbing of society is not unique to the States. The reputation of the British paparazzi is notorious. The BBC has an excellent reputation, but has also suffered bad press in the last few years.

What's apparent in the States is that most conservatives complain that the media has a liberal bias, while those on the left complain of a right-wing slant. This suggests that politically, at least, you can find a media service that provides the perspective you want.

The real problem is not a perceived bias of opinion, but rather the lack of investigative research taking place and the limited scope of coverage. Correct me if I'm wrong, but one of the reasons we are attracted to ATS is our desire to seek knowledge. There's a sense that official news sources present partial truth, a myopic vision of world events. On some level, we believe that fundamental issues and facts are withheld (edited) from the general public.

Mulder was right: the truth is out there, but the path to its discovery is obfuscated by the blinding light of our current media machine, which pummels us with useless soundbytes and celebrity sleeze. Cutting through the jungle of triviality to find meaningful substance requires hard graft.

When you do find something truly revelatory, good luck finding someone else who cares (outside of forums like this, of course).

Check out my blog: Esoterica in America

reply to post by Fett Pinkus

Nah... just some americans (myself NOT included) don't have enough sense to know you can't eat like that 4 meals a week. you have to eat real food the rest of the year except for two days. Super Bowl Sunday. and the Daytona 500. if you stick to that plan your all good!

Originally posted by AJ Lavender
What's apparent in the States is that most conservatives complain that the media has a liberal bias, while those on the left complain of a right-wing slant. This suggests that politically, at least, you can find a media service that provides the perspective you want.

I think it's very possible that in earlier decades the media did in fact have a liberal bias, however in the last twenty years this has changed with the consolidation of power since the FCC is now basically allowing 'monopolies' in media.

PBS certainly used to be liberal. In the last 5 years it has become as 'right' as it used to be 'left'

I think the media and networks were allowed to consolidate power in order to form a more proper propaganda machine.

Originally posted by pavlovsdog
PBS certainly used to be liberal. In the last 5 years it has become as 'right' as it used to be 'left'

I think the media and networks were allowed to consolidate power in order to form a more proper propaganda machine.

Perhaps, but I don't think so. To be a true propaganda machine would require oversight of each individual involved in the process. Free speech still exists and journalists have shown, even recently, that they are willing to go to jail to protect sources and write what they perceive to be truth.

No, I think the consolidation has more to do with the natural amalgamation of corporate entities for economic gain. The media is rife with mergers and takeovers, but it has more to do with money than politics. It's still a service industry and it's about giving the public what it wants. I don't see more politicizing in the news, I see less of it.

If there's propaganda, then I think it's the propaganda of apathy.

Would tend to agree with your comment about PBS, though. They have steered away from a strong liberal orientation of late. So, you never know!

Check out my blog: Esoterica in America

Wow, I didn't think that regular Walmart goers watched too much CNN to tell the truth.

They would already know about the ALWAYS low prices right?

Strange that Britney Spears seems to be making noise (news) the way she does. I never really held much stock in the Monarch Mind Slave stuff until her antics/history. All of the symbolism in her body of work combined with this new split personality stuff.

Now that I do take some stock in the idea, I do not think it is a 'coincidence' that a 'news-worthy' Walmart advertisement puff piece would segue into a Brittany story.

I wouldn't even hesitate to suggest that someone with 'footage' from CNN might want to look deeper for subconscious symbolism or subliminal messages. There could be a lot of possible codes in the prices listed.

I know it sounds like I am joking, or being sarcastic. A year ago I would have been. But I have seen too many instances of strange symbolism to Mega-rituals like the Superbowls or Olympics. Too many instances of Hollywood (Hellewood) magically manipulating the populace with their celebrity and drama.

Walmart itself may or may not be connected 'esoterically' but the W-M symbolism within the name does carry some esoteric value. It seems likely to me that Sam Walton would not have necessarily been involved, but after his death, and the globalization of the company, figures like The Clintons become associated and interlinked. Walmart and its shareholders may not be policy makers in the push to control the world, but have been early adopters of technologies, like RFID Tracking, that facilitate the changes in public perception.

I don't know. It seems like there is something more here to me than just one hand washing the other with the embedded advertisement into our 'journalism'.

Its one thing if you place products into entertainment, but when did 'the truth' become
entertainment?

Eyes wide shut,
DocMoreau

Really in a way this is nothing new and it is not only Wal Mart doing it.

I recall hearing about the Apple iphone before it hit store and again just before it hit the stores. I not only heard about the new product but I got a review as well as the price all off the news. They also made sure to tell me how a limited supply would be hitting the stores first round so I had better get there early to stand in line to get mine.

They do for other items as well the iphone being the latest item fed to me during the news.

Now they also do their “entertainment” portion as well when they try to sell Hollywood garbage and the new pop music out. They try to get me to go see the latest movies and buy the newest DVDs and CDs.

The news more so the local news can be full of product ads now.

Raist