The New York Times reports that retail giant Wal-Mart has begun a bold new public relations strategy of enlisting bloggers to help repair its beleaguered image: "Under assault as never before, Wal-Mart is increasingly looking beyond the mainstream media and working directly with bloggers, feeding them exclusive nuggets of news, suggesting topics for postings and even inviting them to visit its corporate headquarters... But the strategy raises questions about what bloggers, who pride themselves on independence, should disclose to readers. Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, has been forthright with bloggers about the origins of its communications, and the company and its public relations firm, Edelman, say they do not compensate the bloggers."

It appears, though, that some bloggers are not disclosing that their pro-Wal-Mart posts are coming directly from corporate communications: "John McAdams, a political science professor at Marquette University who runs the Marquette Warrior blog, recently posted three links about union activity in the same order as he received them from Mr. Manson [a senior account supervisor at Edelman]. Mr. McAdams acknowledged that he worked from Wal-Mart's links and that he did not disclose his contact with Mr. Manson... 'I usually do not reveal where I get a tip or a lead on a story,' he said, adding that journalists often do not disclose where they get ideas for stories either."

When it became aware of the situation Wal-Mart apparently warned bloggers against running the text verbatim - the account manager asked that bloggers "resist the urge" to lift the text directly, saying, "I'd be sick if someone ripped you because they noticed a couple of bloggers with nearly identical posts."

Wal-Mart also announced future plans to bolster blogger relations: "In a sign of how eager Wal-Mart is to develop ties to bloggers, the company has invited them to a media conference to be held at its headquarters in April..."