News
Report: LA Wal-Mart lobbyist posed as reporter
Posted: Jun 15, 2012 8:01 PM by Jacqui Heinrich
LOS ANGELES (AP) - An associate at a lobbying firm working to bring a Wal-Mart store to Chinatown in Los Angeles has resigned after posing as a student reporter at a news conference held by a labor group opposing the store.
Local media reports city records show Stephanie Harnett worked for Mercury Public Affairs, which was hired by Wal-Mart to promote the project.
The project provoked opposition from labor groups. Last week when one of them held a news conference, Harnett attended saying she was a college student journalist, and interviewed a warehouse worker.
Mercury released a statement saying it did not approve of or direct Harnett's actions, and a Wal-Mart spokesman called them "unacceptable, misleading and wrong."
A message left at a listing for Harnett was not immediately returned.
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