Media top headlines November 24
In media news today, a CBS News reporter asks Biden when he will answer reporters’ questions, ‘Experts’ get slammed for cautioning against using the term ‘looting’ to describe California thefts, and false media reporting on Rittenhouse leads to corrections and mockery.
MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle is taking Dollar Tree to task over its shocking announcement that the company was increasing its famously cheap prices.
Dollar Tree confirmed this week it is charging $1.25 for the majority of its products at all of its locations nationwide by the end of April.
“For 35 years, Dollar Tree has managed through inflationary periods to maintain the everything-for-one-dollar philosophy that distinguished Dollar Tree and made it one of the most successful retail concepts for three decades,” the company said in a press release on Tuesday. “However, as detailed in its September announcement, the Company believes this is the appropriate time to shift away from the constraints of the $1.00 price point in order to continue offering extreme value to customers. This decision is permanent and is not a reaction to short-term or transitory market conditions.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 24: Stephanie Ruhle, Anchor, MSNBC, speaks onstage during the 2019 Concordia Annual Summit – Day 2 at Grand Hyatt New York on September 24, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit)
In a statement, Dollar Tree executive Michael Witynski said the change would give the company “greater flexibility to manage the overall business, especially in a volatile, inflationary environment.”
Ruhle, however, isn’t buying the suggestion that the current inflation conditions play a role in the price hikes.
“Let’s be clear, Dollar Tree does not NEED to raise prices,” Ruhle tweeted Wednesday. “Their biz is KILLIN it- $1,230,000,000 in profits CEO pay $10MM.”
“DollarTree is raising prices because they CAN- not bc they need to. It is a choice of how to share the benefits of their scale To customers? To employees? To shareholders? To mgmt?” she added.
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Ruhle also wrote, “Just bc input costs go up…that does NOT mean a business must raise prices to customers. It is not automatic.”
Responding to a Twitter user who suggested he doesn’t blame companies like Dollar Tree for passing on the costs since they “aren’t a charity,” Ruhle replied, “Stock price it at an all-time-high. Demand is super strong Biz is GROWING It is not a charity – nowhere near a charity. It’s a biz & businesses decide what their priorities are.”
The MSNBC anchor has long downplayed the impact of inflation. Earlier this month, she claimed the “dirty little secret” was that “while nobody likes to pay more, on average, we have the money to do so,” adding, “Household savings hit a record high over the pandemic, we didn’t really have anywhere to go out and spend.”
In May, Ruhle scolded businesses to raise wages following a disappointing jobs report that reflected poorly on the Biden administration.
Ruhle recently claimed Democrats have a ‘great economic story to tell’ despite growing inflation.
“Five million jobs created, 200 million people vaccinated. Those vaccine numbers tie directly to the economy. You couldn’t open the economy without getting America healthy again. We are seeing economic recovery. What the Biden administration isn’t doing is selling that, and they can,” Ruhle told NBC colleague Chuck Todd.
NBC News senior business correspondent Stephanie Ruhle has been promoting a Chase through web videos and digital ads, raising questions about whether she can fairly cover the financial sector. (Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Dollar Tree says the move to $1.25 will allow it to “materially expand its offerings, introduce new products and sizes, and provide families with more of their daily essentials.” Additionally, the company emphasizes that it will be able to reintroduce items that were previously discontinued due to the constraints of the $1 price point.
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The discount retailer plans to roll out the new price points at more than 2,000 additional legacy stores in December as part of an initiative to mitigate rising freight, distribution and operating costs.
FOX Business’ Lucas Manfredi contributed to this report.