MLive not only relies on a business association’s press release, but fails to report on how a wage decrease will impact workers who are already living paycheck to paycheck

On Thursday, Mlive posted an article entitled, West Michigan wage growth declining amid economic uncertainty.

The article begins by stating: The rapid wage growth spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic is showing signs of slowing down, according to a Michigan employer survey.

The survey that was cited came from the American Society of Employers West Michigan, even though the MLive article never really tells readers anything about this business association apart from the fact that they have merged with another group.

However, the article does cite lots of statistics from the survey, along with comments from the organization’s CEO. In addition, it is important to point out that the MLive article pretty much just relies on a Press Release from the  American Society of Employers West Michigan, which the organization posted on August 28th.

So, we have an MLive article, which:

• Relies primarily on a Press Release from a business association.
• Only cites the business association.
• Doesn’t investigate the accuracy of the data provided by the business association.
• And the reporter fails to ask the most basic question – how will this impact workers. 

One could also certainly make the case that MLive should have done a follow up story where they talk to workers about the prospect of having their wages reduced, especially in an economy where the basic cost of living has gone up – food, gas, utilities, etc.

Equally important is the fact that in late July, MLive reported, “that 41% of Michigan households live paycheck to paycheck.” This was based on the ALICE report. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. In that same MLive article they provided a map of Michigan, which allowed readers to see what percentage of the population by county is living paycheck to paycheck.

The MLive story that this GRIID post first looked at, had Muskegon, Michigan as the location of the article, since the American Society of Employers West Michigan is based there. If you look at the ALICE data for Muskegon County, it shows that 48% of the households in that county are living paycheck to paycheck. If the wages are going to decrease, it would mean that more than 50% of the households in Muskegon County would be living paycheck to paycheck. 

THIS should be the story that the MLive reporter should be pursuing, not the unverified data provided by a business association. Just one more example of how the commercial news media in this area demonstrates a clear class bias, favoring the opinions of the business class over the working class.