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June 18, 2012

Wal-Mart Linked PR Officer Poses as Journalist to Workers 
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An employee of a public relations firm tied to the corporate giant
Wal-Mart has been found to have posed as a reporter at a news conference
about poor labor conditions at major retailers. Stephanie Harnett, a
publicist for the company Mercury Communications, claimed she was
student journalist "Zoe Mitchell" when she attended a media briefing on
a recent report highlighting the practices of companies like Wal-Mart.
The report, called "Chain of Greed," singled out Wal-Mart for
maintaining low wages and poor workplace conditions in a network of
subcontracted labor. At the news conference, Harnett, posing as
Mitchell, approached at least two workers and got them to reveal
detailed information about themselves under the guise she was interested
in reporting their story. Mitchell's employer, Mercury Communications,
claims neither it nor Wal-Mart authorized her stunt.

 

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