Weekly Writers Round-Up: Local Election Problems, Ridesharing Wages, and Pay for Student Athletes

Each week, we’ll be featuring opinion pieces from the alumni and current participants of AF’s Writing Fellows Program. A few highlights from the past week are below. Do you dream of having bylines like these? See here for info on how we can help make that a reality.

Facebook and Congress are messing up local elections by Eric Peterson (Fall 2014) in The Washington Examiner
Last week Facebook announced new requirements for running advertisements on their platform ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Facebook caused headaches and confusion in 2018 when it required people and organizations wanting to run political, election, and social issue-focused ads prior to Election Day to register and provide detailed information to the company. Now even more information will be required, and more types of ads will fall under the “politics, elections, and social issues” ad group. If people or groups fail to provide the additional information to Facebook by mid-October, the company will pause advertisements from said individuals and groups.

These additional requirements are aimed at the presidential and other federal elections next year. But states with off-year elections like Louisiana, already well in the swing of major statewide and legislative campaigns, are in for a shock…

Uber and Lyft Offer Drivers a $21 Minimum Wage. California Lawmakers Say It’s Not Enough by Billy Binion (Spring 2018) in Reason
California is on the verge of passing a bill that would reclassify all “gig economy” workers—those who drive for Uber or Lyft, for example—as employees rather than contractors. Ride-sharing companies have responded by offering to pay drivers a minimum hourly wage of $21, but labor activists say the hike isn’t enough.

The measure, known as AB 5, passed the California State Assembly in May and is expected to pass the state Senate next week. It will then head to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has put his full support behind the bill…

Don’t Leave White Colleges, Pay Your Elite Student-Athletes by Natalie Dowzicky (Summer 2019) in Townhall
In a recent Atlantic piece, Jemele Hill, former ESPN host-turned-sports writer, made a call to action that has sparked fire on social media: “It’s Time for Black Athletes to Leave White Colleges.” 

Hill is angry, and it’s understandable. Thirty Division I schools, predominantly white institutions, rake in about $100 million annually — largely because of their black star athletes. Hill is fed up, which is why she’s urging athletes to make an intentional move to historically black colleges or universities (HBCUs). The shift, she argues, “would boost HBCU revenues and endowments,” “stimulate the economy of the black communities in which many of these schools are embedded,” “amplify the power of black coaches” and “bring the benefits of black labor back to black people.”…