Sneed, Tierney. “Fast-Food Workers to Strike to Super-Size Their Wages.” usnews.com. US News & World Report, 3 Sept. 2014. Web. 4 Aug. 2015.
The controversy I am discussing for my second essay is the raising of minimum wage. The text I chose relates to my first source because it gives exigency as to what was and still is going on in the U.S. when it comes to low wage workers.
I believe that U.S. News & World Report is a trusted source. Although the site is known more its world rankings of colleges and universities, these rankings are generally trusted and so by this standard I’m choosing to believe that its information is credible. Also since the site caters to a much broader audience than USA Today — which is evident from its title that states the source as providing a “World Report” — it has more pressure on itself to be more credible and truthful. Tierney Sneed, the author of the article, is credited in her U.S. News bio as being a “cultural and social issues reporter.” Her Twitter is also linked on her bio page and upon investigation, I discovered that her header is Nicki Minaj with a group of kids and she posts things that are mostly politically relevant with a bit of pop culture. From looking at this as well as her other articles which mainly focus on politics, Sneed seems like a trusted reporter that cares about what she writes and is socially conscious. The article itself is very professionally written and informational. There are links to studies by places like The Center for Economic and Policy Research and the language in which it is written is very straightforward. What really gives the article credibility is the quotes the author includes from various pro minimum wage protesters and political officials.
In 2014, protesters were gathering across the country in front of fast food chains like Wendy’s and Burger King to protest in favor of raising minimum wage. The author, Tierney Sneed, includes a quote from President Obama that that states “America deserves a raise. Give America a raise.” Sneed goes on to explain that the protesters are seeking a fifteen dollar minimum wage. She cites a report by the Economic Policy institute that describes restaurant wages as being “significantly lower than those in other industries.” The author speaks with a man named Ronnie Kitchen who is protesting minimum wage as he works for Burger King and is “tired of living in poverty.” Sneed describes Kitchen’s anger with minimum wage as being fueled by the unfair pay difference between major restaurant chains’ CEOs and their workers. Employees plan on protesting at restaurants and holding press conferences in which they will voice their opinion over minimum wage and fast food chains. According to Sneed, the fast food industry is not happy with these protests and believe that labor unions are behind the employee unrest. The author highlights how the protests are causing a change in the United States. President Obama had been advocating for a raise in wages but his plans had been derailed by the National Restaurant Organization, and other organizations like it. These organizations argue that raising wages would “kill jobs and increase food prices.” Sneed describes states, such as Washington, being moved by these protests and a few politicians from both sides supporting the raising of wages.