I love WalMart.
Charles Fishman
Senior Editor
Bio
Charles has been doing daily journalism of some kind since 1974, when he was in seventh grade.
At Harvard, he worked for the weekly Harvard Independent. His first job was as a metro reporter for the Washington Post, where he often wrote more stories in two weeks than he now writes in a year. He went from the Post to a Mississippi River tugboat, pushing coal barges for a power plant. It was dirty, difficult, dangerous work, and he retired after dislocating his shoulder falling down a ladder as he was carrying a can of Comet, attempting to carry out the captain's order: "Fishman, find yourself something to clean." He returned to journalism to cover the space shuttle Challenger disaster as a national reporter for the Washington Post.
He went from the Post to Florida magazine, the Sunday magazine of the Orlando Sentinel, where he was a staff writer, managing editor, and editor. He left to freelance and ended up ghostwriting a book, The Real Heroes of Business and Not a CEO Among Them.
From Orlando he went to Raleigh to take charge of half the newsroom at the News & Observer -- a great newspaper, though modest in circulation. He was assistant managing editor for features, business, and sports coverage. He left the paper to return to writing -- which is how he ended up at Fast Company.
What Charles does at Fast Company ...
In addition to reporting and writing the occasional story and recruiting talent, Charles is the voice for traditional journalism inside the wild laboratory of new new journalism.
People should contact him for ...
Charles is interested in stories about old industries changing, adapting, and breaking into new ways of work. Science, food, space, biotechnology, and camping gear all catch his eye.
Contact him by email, although he's quick to point out that he can't remember the last time a PR pitch resulted in a story.
I read this Wal-Mart bash 2 years ago. It was BS then and it still is.
My close friends new wife, who is a feminist and leftist, has urged me not to shop WalMart because it discriminates against women...I find that hard to believe, but thought this anti WalMart thread might be a place to mention it.
I am a free market person generally, so am not inclined to be a WalMart basher, but still don't find the interior of the stores very attractive.
Interesting article. Midway through reading, more specifically around the Huffy story, I flashed to a scene from Full Metal Jacket. The recruits are in the squad bay and Pvt Pile has gotten into deep doodoo. The DI tells him to choke himself to which Pvt. Pile grabs the DI's hand. The DI pulls it back and says don't grab my hand not get on your knees and choke yourself. And so the recruit did.
Awesome post.
"$2.97--a year's supply of pickles for less than $3!"
Or, a day's supply at a local diner, family reunion or company picnic. What a clueless moron!
BUMP
Hillary used to be on the Board of Directors...lie down with dogs and get fleas.