Teachers Guide - Is Wal-Mart Good For America? | Teacher Center | FRONTLINE

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In addition to the Web resources included in the guide, students and their teachers might want to take a more detailed look at sites devoted to Wal-Mart.

Media literacy note: As with all issues, especially ones that are politically charged, students must learn to be savvy and discriminating readers. No Web site can provide all the information a student needs to know, and teachers should encourage students to "interrogate" Web sites even as they are reading. Guiding questions as they work through these activities should be: What did you learn from this source? What didn't you learn from this source? Who sponsors this source? What bias might the sponsor have? What sites does the source link to?

Web Sites

Is Wal-Mart Good for America?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/
The companion Web site to the FRONTLINE film provides a closer look at how Wal-Mart became the largest and most powerful global retailer, an examination of Wal-Mart's role in driving U.S. manufacturing overseas to China, and more on the U.S. trade deficit with China. Also included is analysis of whether Wal-Mart is good for America and extended interviews with Wal-Mart insiders and observers.

About Wal-Mart
http://www.walmartstores.com/wmstore/wmstores/Mainabout.jsp?pagetype=about&categoryOID=-8242&catID=-8242&template=ContentLanding.jsp
This area of Wal-Mart's corporate Web site offers information about the company's culture and history.

Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town
http://www.pbs.org/itvs/storewars/
This site, which accompanies a PBS documentary, tells the story of a small Virginia town's reaction when Wal-Mart proposes building a Supercenter on the edge of town. The site offers the pros and cons on the issue, plus resources for teachers and more.

2004 Pulitzer Prizes -- National Reporting -- Los Angeles Times
http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2004/national-reporting/works/
This award-winning series of articles written by Los Angeles Times staff examines positive and negative factors about Wal-Mart.

Union-4-Wal-Mart - The Official Nationwide Campaign Web site
http://www.union4walmart.com/websites.htm
Wal-Mart resists the unionization of its employees. This site, created to encourage unionization, has many links to Web sites created by unions, individuals and Wal-Mart/Sam's Club associates.

Books

Joel Bakan. The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power (Free Press Books, 2004) This book by a law professor and legal theorist makes the argument that corporations, if unchecked, can lead to disgrace and destruction.

Robert Slater. The Wal-Mart Triumph: Inside the World's #1 Company (Penguin Group USA, 2004) This book offers insights into Wal-Mart management and the company's worldwide expansion. It also examines Wal-Mart's response to its critics and competitors.

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