News I'd Like To See

News Item ----

"The Legislature should remove the markup law --- also called the Unfair Sales Act --- from state statutes. This law, enacted in 1939 to protect mom and pop outfits, ultimately harms consumers by denying them bargains that people in other states can enjoy" - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009.

NEWS FLASH --------

Milwaukee, WI - Today Wal-Mart announced their entry into the wonderful world of broadcasting. Having secured approval from the FCC, Wal-Mart will be broadcasting on WWAL-TV in high def. The channel will primarily feature their signature, low priced items. However, in a stunning development, Wal-Mart stated that any company can advertise for free on their channel. No more high priced TV ads.

Reaction from local station, WTMJ, Channel 4, a wholly owned subsidiary of Journal Communications (which also owns the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), was somewhat reserved.

"We're not sure how this will work out. Our survival as a viable television station relies on our advertising dollars. We may have to cut back on some of our programming. We're thinking of dumping the local news (those anchors are pretty expensive when there's no money coming in).

Asked what other steps they might make to respond to the Wal-Mart challenge, a WTMJ spokesman said that station management is looking into paying advertisers to be on their station. "If we give each advertiser $2,000 for being on WTMJ, we feel that it could put Wal-Mart out of the market".

Unfortunately, WTMJ has only enough money to give to advertisers through Saturday of this week.

In a related story, Wal-Mart says that they are having great success with their new printed classified newspaper being delivered free to citizens in the city.

They've successfully put the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel into a frenzy to survive. Asked about the loss of their main source of income, now that the classified section has disappeared from the paper, a Journal Sentinel spokesperson stated, "We still have the obituaries. And we now put the logos of the funeral homes in the listings, driving our income upwards".

The editorial board has announced that it is re-thinking their stand on removing the Unfair Sales Act. In the meantime, their printing presses are scheduled to be available on Craig's List early next week.

(If only it were true.)

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