Coalition Letter to CBS ABC NBC PBS on Minimum Wage Coverage

March 14, 2014 David Rhodes Ben Sherwood President, CBS News President, ABC News 524 West 57th Street 47 West 66th Street New York, NY 10019 New York, NY 10023 Deborah Turness Paula Kerger President, NBC News CEO, PBS 30 Rockefeller Plaza 2100 Crystal Drive New York, NY 10112 Arlington, VA 22202 Dear Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Sherwood, Ms. Turness, and Ms. Kerger: We are writing to express our deep concern regarding your networks’ coverage of the impact of low minimum wages on hard-working Americans, their families, and our country. As evidence mounts showing that low wages cost taxpayers and our economy billions annually and keep millions of workers in poverty, the push for better, more livable wages is growing nationwide. At this critical juncture, your viewers deserve to know what’s at stake if we fail to address the status quo. According to a report published this week by Media Matters for America, World News with Diane Sawyer , CBS Evening News , Nightly News with Brian Williams, and PBS NewsHour only mentioned the public cost of low minimum wages eight times in the last year – including how they burden taxpayers and force workers to rely on government programs, such as SNAP, TANF, housing vouchers, or other anti-poverty programs. The majority of mentions were on PBS NewsHour , which provided six of the eight total mentions. The other two were made on Nightly News with Brian Williams. When it comes to growing our economy and improving the livelihoods of workers, it’s increasingly imperative that your evening news programs cover the cost of inaction. Because of low wages, many workers in the fast food industry alone -- many of whom make wages at or just above the current minimum wage -- are forced to rely on government assistance to the tune of almost $7 billion annually. Additionally, a recent analysis found that raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would reduce necessary spending on food stamps by $4.6 billion annually. Your evening news programs reach millions of Americans every night and frequently set the tone for how this issue is debated at the kitchen table, state legislatures, and the Halls of Congress. We urge you to correct this oversight and hope you will take greater action in the future to ensure that these programs tell the full story. We are happy to meet with you to discuss ways to make your minimum wage coverage more informative. Sincerely, AFL-CIO American Family Voices Americans United for Change

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8/12/2019 Coalition Letter to CBS ABC NBC PBS on Minimum Wage Coverage

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March 14, 2014 David Rhodes Ben SherwoodPresident, CBS News President, ABC News524 West 57th Street 47 West 66th StreetNew York, NY 10019 New York, NY 10023

Deborah Turness Paula Kerger President, NBC News CEO, PBS30 Rockefeller Plaza 2100 Crystal DriveNew York, NY 10112 Arlington, VA 22202 Dear Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Sherwood, Ms. Turness, and Ms. Kerger:

We are writing to express our deep concern regarding your networks’ coverage of the impact of lowminimum wages on hard-working Americans, their families, and our country. As evidence mounts showingthat low wages cost taxpayers and our economy billions annually and keep millions of workers in poverty,the push for better, more livable wages is growing nationwide. At this critical juncture, your viewers deserveto know what’s at stake if we fail to address the status quo.

According to a report published this week by Media Matters for America , World News with DianeSawyer , CBS Evening News , Nightly News with Brian Williams, and PBS NewsHour only mentioned thepublic cost of low minimum wages eight times in the last year – including how they burden taxpayers andforce workers to rely on government programs, such as SNAP, TANF, housing vouchers, or otheranti-poverty programs. The majority of mentions were on PBS NewsHour , which provided six of the eighttotal mentions. The other two were made on Nightly News with Brian Williams .

When it comes to growing our economy and improving the livelihoods of workers, it’s increasingly

imperative that your evening news programs cover the cost of inaction. Because of low wages, manyworkers in the fast food industry alone -- many of whom make wages at or just above the current minimumwage -- are forced to rely on government assistance to the tune of almost $7 billion annually. Additionally, arecent analysis found that raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would reduce necessary spendingon food stamps by $4.6 billion annually.

Your evening news programs reach millions of Americans every night and frequently set the tone forhow this issue is debated at the kitchen table, state legislatures, and the Halls of Congress. We urge you tocorrect this oversight and hope you will take greater action in the future to ensure that these programs tellthe full story. We are happy to meet with you to discuss ways to make your minimum wage coverage moreinformative.

Sincerely,

AFL-CIO

American Family Voices

Americans United for Change