Facts Be Damned- Media Bias Alive on Both Sides

The two images above are from Yahoo and Fox News respectively. (The Yahoo story is from Reuters.) Both tell a tale about the fortunes of Wal-Mart for the month of November. But the two stories are completely opposite of each other. How can this be? Both are reporting on the finite US sales figures of the world's largest retailer. This is not an opinion piece or an editorial. It is pretty simple stuff, even for today's reporters. Forget any analysis for the moment, let's just look at the fact that Wal-Mart reported lower than expected sales. In fact, this is the first time since 1996 that Wal-Mart has posted monthly loses.

The Yahoo (Reuters) headline is pretty up-front: Wal-Mart faces must-win December after weak November

But the Fox News headline gives a totally different impression: Wal-Mart Shows Higher November Sales
In fact, based on reports from several other sources, the Fox News headline is an outright lie.

But the deception goes on in the article. From Fox News, we learn that:

The official holiday shopping season appears to have gotten off to a lukewarm start, according to results announced Saturday by a national research group that monitors retail sales. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) was one bright spot in the crowd, reporting its sales exceeded expectations.

Funny, since at Yahoo (and others) we learn this:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s (NYSE:WMT - news) shares dipped 1 percent early on Monday as Wall Street tried to determine what caused surprisingly weak November sales and looked ahead nervously to a make-or-break December.

Since many sources seem to verify the Yahoo (Reuters) version of events, I'm going with that one. Clearly though, the news at Fox is designed to give the impression that not only is business good, people are out spending in holiday droves.

So for those who bemoan the 'liberal' media, take note. Your beloved Fox News really is nothing more than a shill for the Republican party that is clinging to the hope that falsehoods repeated long enough and in varying formulas will substitute themselves in your mind for what the rest of the world see as truth.

There are liberals in the media. And there are conservatives in the media. And then there are liars in the media. We call them propagandists.

(An interesting sidenote to this Wal-Mart story is that other retailers are doing okay, at least not losing sales over last year. Several shoppers interviewed claimed reasons for avoiding Wal-Mart include Wal-Mart's employee practices and their habit of driving small business out of town. As I'm no fan of Wal-Mart to begin with, this is music to my ears. When people begin to speak with their wallets, business may eventually open its ears. Could this be a beginning of a conscience for Wal-Mart?)

(A second side note is that high fuel and food prices are draining the wallets of American shoppers. Money being spent is a great indicator of individual economies, which reflect the larger federal economy. Lower spending just debunks the 'strong economy' theory being bandied about by Team Bush. But that's another post...)

[As I will be out of town for the next few days, my lack of response to comments should not be taken personally. But please feel free to rant anyhow. It will just be one-sided for about a week.- KG]

{Cross posted at Bring It On!}