Minimum Wage Campaign

Analysis:

This story ran just before an event that the Kent County Democratic Part held that involved the statewide effort to raise the minimum wage in Michigan. Even though the reporter mentions up front that people are organizing to put the minimum wage on the ballot this year, event organizers or speakers are not interviewed for this story.

Instead, what WZZM 13 does is finds a random working person to get their feedback on a minimum wage increase. The reporter talks to a single mom who says she supports a wage increase, mostly because she is a mother of two and can’t make it off her current salary. Then the reporter talks with a representative with the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce who takes a position against any effort to raise the minimum wage in Michigan. Ask yourself, is it fair to put the comments of a working mother, who is not associated with the campaign, next to a representative of an organization that is pro business? It would have been more honest to have the event organizer’s comments followed by the GR Chamber of Commerce, which would have 2 organizational perspectives side by side.

Lastly, the story does provide some context to what the current minimum wage is and how long it has been at the current amount, but beyond that there is no investigation into how much a worker needs to live above the federal poverty level. The GR Chamber of Commerce representative does make claims about how this will be bad for business, but the reporter never verifies those claims.

Story:

WZZM 13 Newsreader – Michigan Democrats want to raise the minimum wage and tonight they are taking their campaign to the public. The minimum wage in Michigan has been 5 dollars and fifteen cents and hour for the past ten years. Their proposal calls for it to go up to six eighty-five. WZZM 13’s Phil Dawson joins us now from the Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids for more.

Reporter – Juliet, instead of relying upon the federal government or the state legislature to raise the minimum wage, organizers of a rally here at the Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids tonight are hoping to collect enough signatures to put the pay raise question before the voters this November.

Reporter – Tanning salon employee Tammy Wade is a West Michigan working mother would get a raise if the minimum wage goes up.

Tammy Wade – Big bonus for me, big bonus. Definitely.

Reporter – Entry level workers like Tammy Wade haven’t seen an increase in the five dollar and fifteen cent minimum wage since 1997, so some Democrats want to increase the minimum in Michigan to six dollars and eighty-five cents an hour.

Tammy Wade – I do have two children, and that’s definitely going to help with that. I also do have a vehicle that I am still paying on, so that would definitely be a little bit more helpful.

Jared Rodriguez (GR Area Chamber of Commerce) – We do not support that, as a way to increase wages.

Reporter – The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce opposes an increase in the minimum wage because they say it would increase the cost of doing business in the state, and could force companies to downsize and cut jobs.

Jared Rodriguez – If there’s less funds available to pay your workforce because of the increase, you’re going to have to shrink or streamline your workforce. Therefore there could be a net decrease or loss of entry-level jobs.

Tammy Wade – Yes it’s definitely a struggle, especially being a single parent and having children, yes.

Reporter – The minimum wage works out to be about twelve thousand dollars a year for a fulltime employee in Michigan. If the campaign that begins here tonight collects enough signatures, it will be up to the voters to decide if there will be a pay raise. In Grand Rapids Phil Dawson, WZZM 13 News.

Total Time: 2 minutes 4 seconds