From the "News vs. Advertising" Department

July 12: Walmart Alters Willie Nelson Cover

Alright, I was going to complain a bit about the Walmart practice of forcing artists to alter covers and lyrics to conform to their "standards". Especially since, when I clicked on the above link, I thought this was what the article was going to talk about.

Not quite the first half of the article spoke on the issue at hand, and briefly mentioned the small change and that Walmart's done this before. And then another third of the article proceeds to discuss what his album is about, where he got the idea, and the etymology of it being put togther. Finally, the end of the article mentions Nelson's tour plans and an anniversary Farm Aid concert. The final note? "Tickets for Farm Aid '05 go on sale July 30."

Was this really the same article at the end as it was in the beginning?

Why didn't the article focus on the news - another case of Walmart's tampering with content that is on its shelves - rather than advertising all the "cool" stuff Willie Nelson is doing this summer?!?

Weren't journalists suppose to investigate and report, not regurgate and gossip?

Grr....