Customers Suing Wal-Mart

Customers Injured in Crush Suing Wal-Mart


1. Is the information in a given article accurate?
Yes and no. Although police and autopsy reports as well as video footage from the Wal-Mart store are provided, much of the information simply cannot be reported as fact. For instance, the article claims that Jdimytai Damour, the man who was killed in a Long Island Wal-Mart at 5 am on 'Black Friday' was stepped on by hundreds of people, but this is obviously just an approximation. Also, the claims of the two men who were injured at the Wal-Mart location is based on their personal accounts of the story, so there is no way to prove that it is accurate either way.


2. Is there missing context that might undermine the premise of a given article or television segment?
Most of the information is there, but as stated earlier, the article is a bit biased considering most of the statements taken were those of two men who were injured at Wal-Mart and their attorneys. They could be dramatizing the story in order to get more money out of the deal. The article is also clearly holding Wal-Mart responsible for what happened in their store on on Black Friday (which I personally agree with), and even gives suggestions for what could have been done to change the situation.

3. Which experts are quoted--and, in turn, who isn't allowed to give their opinion what does this leave out?
Attorney Kenneth Mollins as well as Lt. Kevin Smith of the Nassau County Police Department are quoted and allowed to give their opinions in this article. Representatives of Wal-Mart, on the other hand, are left out of this piece. This leaves out the other side of the issue in which Wal-Mart could try to explain themselves and defend their reputation.

4. Is the selected media simply reinforcing the status quo on a given topic, even though there may be no reason to assume that it is correct?
Yes, I would say that this article is going along with the status quo that places blame on the police department and the corporation (in this case, that would be Wal-Mart) rather than the individual. It does not seem as if the consumers who actually broke down the doors to Wal-Mart and physically stepped on this man repeatedly are getting blamed. While I do agree that Wal-Mart as well as the Nassau County Police should be held somewhat responsible for this incident, I do think that a bit more blamed should be placed on the consumers who caused this problem.


ADDITIONAL QUESTION. Do news stories try too hard to find someone to place the blame on, rather than tacking the real issue at hand?
In this particular article, I would definitely say yes. Although the article does touch upon the tragedy of the situation, it seemed as if they immediately placed the blame on the police department. It is clear that there were many parties to blame for this tragedy, and perhaps the article should not have been so quick to place blame.