Stakeholder #1

Gerd Altman "Woman, Camera, Hand, Lens" January 2014 via pixabay. Public Domain Dedication

The first stakeholder I chose to write about is the author of the LA Times article, Samantha Masunaga. I chose to write about her because I felt as though the LA Times article was one of the stronger sources that I had obtained and I could also find a lot of information about Samantha Masunaga.

1. Can you describe this stakeholder in 200-250 words? 

Samantha Masunaga started working for the LA Times in 2014. She has also worked for other publications such as Oregonian, Orange County Register, and Rafu Shimpo. She is also received a degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and obtained a degree at UCLA.

Masunaga enjoys writing mostly about business, crime, obituaries, and higher education. In 2011 she won an award for the Associated Collegiate Press for the best multimedia feature, honorable mention.

She has written a huge variety of articles ranging from SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket to New accessory for American Girl dolls: diabetic care kit. This shows that she is a very diverse reporter that can focus on multiple topics and issues rather than focusing on only one area.

On her Twitter I found that she mainly tweets about news related items, in which most of those are located in Los Angeles, along with retweeting some cute animals posts (which is always acceptable in my opinion).

Anyways, the pictures I was able to find of her on Twitter and Google shows that she appears to dress in a business-casual fashion (nicer, but more casual shirts). Based on the pictures she takes and what she writes on her Twitter she appears to be a friendly and happy person.


2. Can you identify THREE specific claims being made by this stakeholder?

Three claims this stakeholder makes are all located in her article in the LA Times, Thousands march in L.A. as part of nationwide call to raise minimum wage.

The first claim I found is "Several thousand low-wage workers and their supporters marched through downtown Los Angeles to drum beats and whistles Tuesday afternoon calling for a $15 minimum wage and a union."

The second claim is "Workers in L.A. marched to show solidarity with workers in other cities that do not have a $15 minimum wage, as well as to call for a union."

And the third claim is "In a statement, Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's pointed to its decision to raise the minimum wage for workers at company-owned stores starting in July."

3. Can you explain how valid these claims are?

The first claim I stated is fairly accurate. The only inaccurate part (from my research at least) is the "to drum beats and whistles"part. I watched a variety of different videos of the protest on November 10, 2015 from different sources and from all of the videos I watched none had drums or whistles. Besides that small detail, that claim is true. There were thousands of workers marching and for the $15 minimum wage and to hopefully form a union.

The second claim is 100% valid from my research. The protestors were marching not for Los Angeles, because they already received a legislation for a higher minimum wage, but were marching for workers in other cities. The protestors were also carrying signs with "SEIU" on them. Which, stated in my previous blog post is the Service Employees International Union.

The third claim is also true. This article states that McDonalds raised the minimum wage $1 above the local minimum wage July 1, 2015.

4. Can you explain how these claims are similar and/or different to the other stakeholders?

These claims are fairly similar to the other stakeholders because most articles I found take a neutral and fact-based approach to this controversy, which is what I need. The differences between this stakeholder and the others are just the information they provide. This source provides a longer article, a couple pictures, and a video. While other sources provide a shorter article, more visuals, etc.