How to put your name as a byline?
According to American’s culuture, I should be called Yi Lou. Because my last name is Lou and my first name is Yi.
However, I was always called Lou Yi in China. Actually my last name and first name have never been split before. I even used Louyi as my name when I first introduced myself to my colleagues in the Inquirer.
To Chinese, last name is very important. It tells the story of people’s families which may go back to thousands of years ago.
To show respect, Chinese only call senior people (both by age and position) by their last name. For example, you should call your uncle John Zhang ”uncle Zhang” but never his first name “John”.
To people who are at the senior position we also follow the same rule. If John Zhang is your director, he is usually called Director Zhang even he is younger than you.
So what about journalists?
Most of newsrooms in China follow the same name rule. Maybe even stricter. They call senior journalists “Teacher”. Because Chinese think writers or journalists are better educated intellectuals and Chinese respect education.
I was often called as “Teacher Lou” when I received calls from readers or young journalists in China. But most of them called me “Lou Yi” after they met me and found I was only a young girl with naïve eyes and acne.
Caijing where I am working with is very different. In our newsroom every one call each other’s first name just like Americans. Why? I don’t know. Maybe because most of the people in the newsroom are young or because our editor in chief, the best reporter in China, is always energetic like a young girl and never wants others to warn her of her age.
However I am unique in my newsroom. Some Chinese characters has the same pronunciation but means totally different. Unfortunately my first name Yi has the same pronunciation of another word “Yi”——means aunt. I am too young for people to call me aunt and show extra respect.
Therefore I am Lou Yi for 30 years and I wonder if I need to change myself to Yi Lou?
I tried to introduce myself as Yi Lou but felt very uncomfortable. I even thought of having an foreign first name so as not to feel weird.
Here I do the same job in the same way; wear the same clothes and eat quite the similar food (from Chinatown) as I did in China. Why should I change my name?
I asked myself and wondered what other Chinese do in the States.
“How do you call Yao Ming? ”
“Yao Ming.”
I know Yao is the famous basketball superstar’s last name and Ming is his first name.
“So call me Lou Yi.”
That is why byline is Lou Yi in the Inquirer, just the same as the one on the English version of my stories at Caijing.
Be yourself and be proud of yourself and your culture are the same as, or maybe more important than to learn to adapt yourself to another culture.
And tell you another thing of my name. Every Chinese name has a meaning. Lou means house and Yi means safe. Visit my blog and feel safe, safer and safer.
2007年6月29日星期五
2007年6月27日星期三
"Go to the beach" means ……
« Time | Main
"Go to the beach" means ……
Last Wednesday I was in St. Petersburg for a seminar with other Alfred Friendly Press Fellowship fellows. After the seminar I went to the swimming pool with other two girls.
Upon we arrived at the pool I jumped into the pool and began to swim. After I swim for 5 minutes I found I was still the only one in the pool. The other two girls were lying on chairs under the hot sun.
“Come on and swim!”
They didn’t go. Most of the time they were busy with putting sun block onto their bodies, drinking, or just lying on the towel when I was swimming.
Three days later we went to the beach. The same thing happened.
Most of the time girls just lied on the towel and read fashion magazines. They only swam for several minutes during the whole morning.
I had wondered before that why Americans build the best kitchen room while they don’t cook very often. Now I have a new question:
Why do Americans go to the swimming pool or beach if they don’t want to swim?
If they just want to lie on the chair and relax, why bother fly for such a long way to Florida? Why not just lie on the chair at their home?
Katie, one of the girls who went to the pool with me, told me:
“Go to swim” means exactly going to swim. But ‘go to the pool’ or ’go to the beach ’ means a lot.”
I guess it maybe Americans want to split the workday and personal vacation very clearly. Maybe they work too hard so that they want to go where they don’t need to think of any piece of work.
You know what does “Go to the pool” means to me in China?
It means a large terribly crowded dumpling bowl. There are always a lot of people in the pool that you can never enjoy swimming in the swimming pool. When I swam in China I was often kicked mistakenly by other swimmers. If I don’t want to be kicked the only way is to stand in the pool like an idiot.
To men, whether from China or the States, I guess, “Go to the pool” or “Go to the beach” also means beautiful women, especially hot girls in Bikini.
Obviously there are more Bikini beauties in the pool in the States. However, there are more and more girls with Bikini in the pool in China.
But the traditional culture still played an important role. About eight years ago when Bikini was first introduced to China I went to a swimming pool and was surprised to see a girl in Bikini. She was so brave to wear a Bikini but at the same time she was so traditional that she wore a T shirt first and then put the Bikini outside the T shirt.
"Go to the beach" means ……
Last Wednesday I was in St. Petersburg for a seminar with other Alfred Friendly Press Fellowship fellows. After the seminar I went to the swimming pool with other two girls.
Upon we arrived at the pool I jumped into the pool and began to swim. After I swim for 5 minutes I found I was still the only one in the pool. The other two girls were lying on chairs under the hot sun.
“Come on and swim!”
They didn’t go. Most of the time they were busy with putting sun block onto their bodies, drinking, or just lying on the towel when I was swimming.
Three days later we went to the beach. The same thing happened.
Most of the time girls just lied on the towel and read fashion magazines. They only swam for several minutes during the whole morning.
I had wondered before that why Americans build the best kitchen room while they don’t cook very often. Now I have a new question:
Why do Americans go to the swimming pool or beach if they don’t want to swim?
If they just want to lie on the chair and relax, why bother fly for such a long way to Florida? Why not just lie on the chair at their home?
Katie, one of the girls who went to the pool with me, told me:
“Go to swim” means exactly going to swim. But ‘go to the pool’ or ’go to the beach ’ means a lot.”
I guess it maybe Americans want to split the workday and personal vacation very clearly. Maybe they work too hard so that they want to go where they don’t need to think of any piece of work.
You know what does “Go to the pool” means to me in China?
It means a large terribly crowded dumpling bowl. There are always a lot of people in the pool that you can never enjoy swimming in the swimming pool. When I swam in China I was often kicked mistakenly by other swimmers. If I don’t want to be kicked the only way is to stand in the pool like an idiot.
To men, whether from China or the States, I guess, “Go to the pool” or “Go to the beach” also means beautiful women, especially hot girls in Bikini.
Obviously there are more Bikini beauties in the pool in the States. However, there are more and more girls with Bikini in the pool in China.
But the traditional culture still played an important role. About eight years ago when Bikini was first introduced to China I went to a swimming pool and was surprised to see a girl in Bikini. She was so brave to wear a Bikini but at the same time she was so traditional that she wore a T shirt first and then put the Bikini outside the T shirt.
2007年6月26日星期二
Time
Americans think to be punctual is very important. It is what I heard before I went to the States as the Washington correspondent for Caijing Magazine three years ago. I didn’t want to be late for any interview. But I am not a good map reader. So I always arrived one hour earlier. Usually I went to a nearby Starbucks and prepared for my interview there after I found where the interview would be held.
I often recited the questions to myself when I prepared my interview at the Starbucks.
One day as I was murmuring questions in a line waiting for a cup of mocha at the Starbucks close to the World Bank, the man in front of me suddenly turned around and said:
“Absolutely!”
I was stunned for a second and then realized that he was answering my question.
Anyway, I never missed any interview.
When I came to the Philadelphia Inquirer I was reminded again of American’s emphasis on punctuality. The first day Andy Maykuth, my mentor at the Inquirer, gave me a printed schedule with a list of about 30 journalists I should meet in the newsroom the first three days. Every interview lasted exactly 30 minutes.
“Americans are not human being,” I said to myself, "they are computers.”
But quickly I found that Americans are also flexible. They would also change their agenda. I felt a little bit relaxed when my schedule was changed.
And then I was shocked again.
In my newsroom, when people don’t have time to talk with you, they usually say:
“Could you wait for a couple minutes? ”
Here people account by second.
“Five seconds, OK?”
I always hear that kind of response.
But then I find actually they need five minutes.
Now, whenever I hear a response like five seconds or a couple of minutes, I will translate them into five minutes or 30 minutes.
Does that mean Americans do not stick to their word?
No. They use seconds to show their respect for others and their time. But they are too busy. During this chaotic time in the whole newspaper industry in the Internet era, American journalists have to write more with fewer people and less pay. They are competing with different media, with all the other things people would like to read, with the Internet.
They are competing with the time and for the time.
So what do I do?
Leave and wait?
No. I will do exactly the same as I did in the newsroom of my country. Go back to my desk but still watch them to see if they have time to talk with me.
In China I always chase my editor or I would be chased and tortured by them. Here I have to chase my editors too or I could not get more opportunity to learn about the American society, the American newspaper industry and tell you the tale of the two cultures.
I often recited the questions to myself when I prepared my interview at the Starbucks.
One day as I was murmuring questions in a line waiting for a cup of mocha at the Starbucks close to the World Bank, the man in front of me suddenly turned around and said:
“Absolutely!”
I was stunned for a second and then realized that he was answering my question.
Anyway, I never missed any interview.
When I came to the Philadelphia Inquirer I was reminded again of American’s emphasis on punctuality. The first day Andy Maykuth, my mentor at the Inquirer, gave me a printed schedule with a list of about 30 journalists I should meet in the newsroom the first three days. Every interview lasted exactly 30 minutes.
“Americans are not human being,” I said to myself, "they are computers.”
But quickly I found that Americans are also flexible. They would also change their agenda. I felt a little bit relaxed when my schedule was changed.
And then I was shocked again.
In my newsroom, when people don’t have time to talk with you, they usually say:
“Could you wait for a couple minutes? ”
Here people account by second.
“Five seconds, OK?”
I always hear that kind of response.
But then I find actually they need five minutes.
Now, whenever I hear a response like five seconds or a couple of minutes, I will translate them into five minutes or 30 minutes.
Does that mean Americans do not stick to their word?
No. They use seconds to show their respect for others and their time. But they are too busy. During this chaotic time in the whole newspaper industry in the Internet era, American journalists have to write more with fewer people and less pay. They are competing with different media, with all the other things people would like to read, with the Internet.
They are competing with the time and for the time.
So what do I do?
Leave and wait?
No. I will do exactly the same as I did in the newsroom of my country. Go back to my desk but still watch them to see if they have time to talk with me.
In China I always chase my editor or I would be chased and tortured by them. Here I have to chase my editors too or I could not get more opportunity to learn about the American society, the American newspaper industry and tell you the tale of the two cultures.
Lou Yi's weekly professional diary
Last week, I have a crash course on writing, reporting and coaching, which is very interesting and inspiring. I had so many exercises that even a talkative person like me felt exhausted. I also had a lot of fun with my fellows and teachers at the beach.
My favorite class is the coaching class. My five years at Caijing Magazine is a long way of struggling and battling for independence. Our editors are so powerful and knowledgeable that reporters dare not stand up to speak for their own idea, which severely jeopardize reporters’ moral and initiative. The class at Poynter let me realize that a productive discussion could help both the editors and reporters to get better understanding of stories.
I read the book of coaching, I am so proud to say that Bill Marimow, the top editor of the Inquirer, and Julie Busby, my editor at the city desk, are born excellent coaches. I am so lucky to be here and work with them.
Though I haven’t talked with editors about managing skills, I observed their managing style by reading emails and talking with other reporters. I sent monthly report to my editors about how the Inquirer mange reporters and my editors tell me they like it very much. They begin to praise reporters on their stories by MSN. They also reduce the editing process of the online stories.
Is that wonderful?
Now I believe my editors at Caijng are great journalists with huge potential to be the great coachs.
I will continue to work for the city desk this week. I am looking forward to new tasks!
My favorite class is the coaching class. My five years at Caijing Magazine is a long way of struggling and battling for independence. Our editors are so powerful and knowledgeable that reporters dare not stand up to speak for their own idea, which severely jeopardize reporters’ moral and initiative. The class at Poynter let me realize that a productive discussion could help both the editors and reporters to get better understanding of stories.
I read the book of coaching, I am so proud to say that Bill Marimow, the top editor of the Inquirer, and Julie Busby, my editor at the city desk, are born excellent coaches. I am so lucky to be here and work with them.
Though I haven’t talked with editors about managing skills, I observed their managing style by reading emails and talking with other reporters. I sent monthly report to my editors about how the Inquirer mange reporters and my editors tell me they like it very much. They begin to praise reporters on their stories by MSN. They also reduce the editing process of the online stories.
Is that wonderful?
Now I believe my editors at Caijng are great journalists with huge potential to be the great coachs.
I will continue to work for the city desk this week. I am looking forward to new tasks!
2007年6月21日星期四
2007年6月13日星期三
2007年6月12日星期二
Food: a matter of life or death
Last Sunday night I attended a farewell party in Washington, D.C for Xin Li, Caijing’s Washington correspondent who will leave for Beijing this month.
About 20 people attended the party. Almost everyone was cooking when Xin Li called them that afternoon, she said.
This is typical Chinese party in the States-every guest brings a dish-not only wine or flowers- so that people can enjoy the food and exchange tips on cooking during the party.
At a traditional Chinese party, usually the one for spring festival, the equivalent of Christmas in the States, guests not only bring food but also make food, usually preparing dumplings with the host.
This is the biggest difference between a Chinese party and an American party. How good the food is at the party is a matter of life or death.
It not only shows the talent of the host's wife but also works as a permanent topic of discussion for strangers as the topic of weather, or a refuge for shy people. If you don’t know what to talk, you can at least enjoy the food!
On the contrary, it seems food is the least important focus at an American party. To Americans, the most important thing at the party is talking, then liquor or beverage, then dessert, then the meal. It could be nice if you know most of the guests or you have pleasant conversation with other guests. It could be terrible if you find all the guests around you are strangers or boring, plus you have to stand there with little to eat.
The first B.B.Q I’ve attended in the States was in a White House reporter’s home in Washington. I told my colleagues all the details about the B.B.Q:
“We had food under cherry blossom in his backyard.”
“Wonderful!”
“We had candles and flowers on the table.”
“Beautiful!”
“We played with his dog.”
“Interesting. What about food?”
“Hamburger.”
“Are you kidding?”
And then I knew American B.B.Q is not the camp B.B.Q that I imagined before, and hamburger or cheeseburger is the typical food for B.B.Q.
I attended some pleasant parties in Philadelphia and then decided to hold a party at my apartment. I prepared four dishes as main entrées, including lobster, which is obviously fancy in American cuisine but still a little bit light to Chinese. I thought everything was perfect until I found I missed one important course:
Dessert, always Americans' (especially American women’s) favorite course.
I felt sorry about that for a while then I felt better. Since we’ve already enjoyed the fancy Chinese food, why bother to have dessert?
About 20 people attended the party. Almost everyone was cooking when Xin Li called them that afternoon, she said.
This is typical Chinese party in the States-every guest brings a dish-not only wine or flowers- so that people can enjoy the food and exchange tips on cooking during the party.
At a traditional Chinese party, usually the one for spring festival, the equivalent of Christmas in the States, guests not only bring food but also make food, usually preparing dumplings with the host.
This is the biggest difference between a Chinese party and an American party. How good the food is at the party is a matter of life or death.
It not only shows the talent of the host's wife but also works as a permanent topic of discussion for strangers as the topic of weather, or a refuge for shy people. If you don’t know what to talk, you can at least enjoy the food!
On the contrary, it seems food is the least important focus at an American party. To Americans, the most important thing at the party is talking, then liquor or beverage, then dessert, then the meal. It could be nice if you know most of the guests or you have pleasant conversation with other guests. It could be terrible if you find all the guests around you are strangers or boring, plus you have to stand there with little to eat.
The first B.B.Q I’ve attended in the States was in a White House reporter’s home in Washington. I told my colleagues all the details about the B.B.Q:
“We had food under cherry blossom in his backyard.”
“Wonderful!”
“We had candles and flowers on the table.”
“Beautiful!”
“We played with his dog.”
“Interesting. What about food?”
“Hamburger.”
“Are you kidding?”
And then I knew American B.B.Q is not the camp B.B.Q that I imagined before, and hamburger or cheeseburger is the typical food for B.B.Q.
I attended some pleasant parties in Philadelphia and then decided to hold a party at my apartment. I prepared four dishes as main entrées, including lobster, which is obviously fancy in American cuisine but still a little bit light to Chinese. I thought everything was perfect until I found I missed one important course:
Dessert, always Americans' (especially American women’s) favorite course.
I felt sorry about that for a while then I felt better. Since we’ve already enjoyed the fancy Chinese food, why bother to have dessert?
Town watch grows in Chinatown
"Look at my ID!" said Mei Ren, proudly showing her town watch ID during her first formal patrol this month.
The 45-year-old real-estate agent now has a second job, helping guard the 5,000 residents of Chinatown as a town watch member.
Chinatown Town Watch was founded last August by 15 volunteers looking to safeguard their neighborhood by patrolling and reporting suspected crimes to the police.
After operating informally for 10 months with weekly patrols, the watch now will be trained to make formal patrols with uniform jackets and security devices such as two-way radios, said Police Capt. Brian J. Korn of the Sixth District.
The town watch won a citywide award June 4 from the police for its "hard work and dedication," said Korn, noting that the number of violent crimes in Chinatown this year had decreased by 6 percent.
Korn said the watch is important because it has been able to persuade residents - who had been reluctant to report criminal activity - to come forward.
As a founding member of the watch, Ren became a hero last August when she helped catch a thief long sought in Chinatown.
"I saw him walking out of An Lok House at 10th and Spring Streets," recalled Ren. "I called police, followed him, and stopped him at the entrance of the building at 928 Race St."
Police checked the man's bag and found jewelry, including gold rings and jade bracelets, and 28 stolen credit cards.
Ren envisioned the town watch as a way to help her renters. "There were so many thefts," said Ren, who often received complaints from her tenants, most of them new immigrants from Fujian, China, about how thieves climbed into their rooms by ladder and tied them up.
Yingzhang Lin, the leader of the Fujian Immigrants Association, proposed a town watch during a community meeting with police last July.
Since then, the group has held monthly meetings with police, gone on patrol in groups of four or more, and filed reports to police by e-mail.
But the group's most important job is to persuade reluctant immigrants to report crime to police.
"Identity is the key concern," said Jinhe Chen, director of the Chang Le Association of Philadelphia, an organization of Fujian immigrants.
When someone reports a crime, police routinely ask for identification, which many undocumented immigrants cannot provide, Chen said.
"We don't ask anybody 'What is your immigration status' when they call us for help," said Korn. "We are just here trying to address the issues, and then help anybody who does need our help."
More undocumented immigrants are now willing to report crimes to police, said Joseph Eastman, a retired Navy veteran and coordinator of the town watch.
"It is very important we get people's trust," he added.
The group also needed to get the trust of other organizations.
"It is funny," said Allen Wang, second vice president of the Chinese Benevolent Association (CBA). "We began with misunderstanding."
The CBA was founded in 1947 by immigrants from Guangzhou, and its members were not able to communicate well with the Fujian group, which aroused concern about the town watch, said Wang.
"When we knew what they were doing, we joined in," said Wang, who attends monthly meetings and patrols with other members.
Chinatown Town Watch's membership has grown from 15 to 50, Eastman said.
Lin regards it as the first "deep and real" cooperation among organizations in Chinatown.
"Before then, we only met at ceremonies in Chinese restaurants," said Lin. "The only things we did together were eating and drinking."
2007年6月10日星期日
Lou Yi’s professional weekly diary
What I did last week:
Story for the Inquirer:
Last week I finished my story on Chinatown town watch and video taping them at the same time. This will be the second video story I’ve made for the website of the Inquirer. This time I am working to make two versions of videos, one for Americans and another for Chinese. Maybe I can help to open the Chinatown’s market for the Inquirer?
It is the fourth and may be the last story I’ve ever written about Chinatown. Chinatown is interesting but I still need to learn more about the mainstream society. I also need to learn more from other reporters from the Inquire, especially on how to get access to information or contacts with different ways or tools.
Blog:
Last week I’ve been aggressively writing and marketing my blog at the website of the Inquirer. I wrote everyday and forward my articles to people around me with brief of the articles, which is quite effective. I received responses from many people, including Katie. One day a man suddenly stopped me on the street and said:
“I like your blog!”
Updating blog helps to practice my English writing. I was reluctant to update my blog because I always hope to bring a perfect article without any grammar mistake. Now, I put it online right after I finish my article. Then I change it when I notice any mistakes. The more I write, the few mistakes I make.
Personal research project:
I will interview Milton Cole, the deputy managing editor of the Washington Post this Monday afternoon. I will interview Carl Lavin, the deputy managing editor of the Inquirer after I am back from Florida. With Carl Lavin, Ke Xu and Li Yuan’s help, I finally nailed down the interviews with people from the New York Time, the Wall Street Journal. I am thrilled but uncertain about the future interviews since we still don’t decide the exact time of interviews.
Observation on American printed media: My column on Caijing’s website
I finished another story about Bill Marimow last week. The story will be published on Tuesday. I plan to write at least 30 stories about American printed media’s transition and show the videos about them at the same time.
As the first reporter in Caijing magazine who writes column about my own overseas experience, I started my column in the middle of April. Today I open Caijing’s website and find five reporters’ stories about their oversea experience, including our editor in chief. I am glad that so many reporters share their experience with our readers.
What I learned last week:
Journalist’s transition to the multimedia era:
Must all the journalists learn to shoot with camcorders or write blogs?
No.
Actually the more I work on blog or video the more I disagree with such idea.
The answer is simple. It is too time consuming and very different from newspaper reporting. Even you are extremely smart and hard working, you still can not do a perfect job on three kinds of work. I am able to working on three kinds of things because I am not asked to write deadline stories everyday or do investigative reporting like I do in China. But sometimes I still feel overwhelmed.
I think the best way to solve the problem is to allocate different kinds of job to reporters with different professional skills. I heard that the Washington Post have three full time movie editors to edit video taken by reporters. I would rather edit my story by myself. But I think it is evitable that the let professionals to do the job in the future. Does that mean newspapers will recruit more people from TV stations?
I guess the editor have to re-describe their job too. When they think of a story, they don’t only think of the writing style, the details of the story or the accuracy. They have to think of a multimedia picture, allocate assignments to not only reporters, but also people from graphic desk, photo desk, movie desk (in the future), and online desk. I find the editors at the Inquirer are beginning to think of the online news reporting, and people from different desk are beginning to work together. There is still huge potential for editors to improve their capability of organizing and understanding of the multimedia way of story telling.
How to manage the newsroom effectively?
Last diary told a tip of philly.com’s management by sign on and sign off emails. This time I learned how to keep transparency from Bill Marimow’s email.
Anne Gordon, the managing editor of the Inquirer, left last month and Bill is now interviewing different applicants. We all want to know who will be the new managing editor. I even thought of asking him during my interview. Last week, I received a letter from Bill to the whole newsroom. He told us what kind of managing editor he think suitable to the Inquirer, How is the recruiting process and when he hopes to make a decision.
I am surprised to receive such a letter. Reporters at the Inquirer told me it is Bill’s style to try his best to bring transparency into the news room. He may not tell us the details of the recruiting but his letter does let us feel that we are part of the process.
Excellent!
Story for the Inquirer:
Last week I finished my story on Chinatown town watch and video taping them at the same time. This will be the second video story I’ve made for the website of the Inquirer. This time I am working to make two versions of videos, one for Americans and another for Chinese. Maybe I can help to open the Chinatown’s market for the Inquirer?
It is the fourth and may be the last story I’ve ever written about Chinatown. Chinatown is interesting but I still need to learn more about the mainstream society. I also need to learn more from other reporters from the Inquire, especially on how to get access to information or contacts with different ways or tools.
Blog:
Last week I’ve been aggressively writing and marketing my blog at the website of the Inquirer. I wrote everyday and forward my articles to people around me with brief of the articles, which is quite effective. I received responses from many people, including Katie. One day a man suddenly stopped me on the street and said:
“I like your blog!”
Updating blog helps to practice my English writing. I was reluctant to update my blog because I always hope to bring a perfect article without any grammar mistake. Now, I put it online right after I finish my article. Then I change it when I notice any mistakes. The more I write, the few mistakes I make.
Personal research project:
I will interview Milton Cole, the deputy managing editor of the Washington Post this Monday afternoon. I will interview Carl Lavin, the deputy managing editor of the Inquirer after I am back from Florida. With Carl Lavin, Ke Xu and Li Yuan’s help, I finally nailed down the interviews with people from the New York Time, the Wall Street Journal. I am thrilled but uncertain about the future interviews since we still don’t decide the exact time of interviews.
Observation on American printed media: My column on Caijing’s website
I finished another story about Bill Marimow last week. The story will be published on Tuesday. I plan to write at least 30 stories about American printed media’s transition and show the videos about them at the same time.
As the first reporter in Caijing magazine who writes column about my own overseas experience, I started my column in the middle of April. Today I open Caijing’s website and find five reporters’ stories about their oversea experience, including our editor in chief. I am glad that so many reporters share their experience with our readers.
What I learned last week:
Journalist’s transition to the multimedia era:
Must all the journalists learn to shoot with camcorders or write blogs?
No.
Actually the more I work on blog or video the more I disagree with such idea.
The answer is simple. It is too time consuming and very different from newspaper reporting. Even you are extremely smart and hard working, you still can not do a perfect job on three kinds of work. I am able to working on three kinds of things because I am not asked to write deadline stories everyday or do investigative reporting like I do in China. But sometimes I still feel overwhelmed.
I think the best way to solve the problem is to allocate different kinds of job to reporters with different professional skills. I heard that the Washington Post have three full time movie editors to edit video taken by reporters. I would rather edit my story by myself. But I think it is evitable that the let professionals to do the job in the future. Does that mean newspapers will recruit more people from TV stations?
I guess the editor have to re-describe their job too. When they think of a story, they don’t only think of the writing style, the details of the story or the accuracy. They have to think of a multimedia picture, allocate assignments to not only reporters, but also people from graphic desk, photo desk, movie desk (in the future), and online desk. I find the editors at the Inquirer are beginning to think of the online news reporting, and people from different desk are beginning to work together. There is still huge potential for editors to improve their capability of organizing and understanding of the multimedia way of story telling.
How to manage the newsroom effectively?
Last diary told a tip of philly.com’s management by sign on and sign off emails. This time I learned how to keep transparency from Bill Marimow’s email.
Anne Gordon, the managing editor of the Inquirer, left last month and Bill is now interviewing different applicants. We all want to know who will be the new managing editor. I even thought of asking him during my interview. Last week, I received a letter from Bill to the whole newsroom. He told us what kind of managing editor he think suitable to the Inquirer, How is the recruiting process and when he hopes to make a decision.
I am surprised to receive such a letter. Reporters at the Inquirer told me it is Bill’s style to try his best to bring transparency into the news room. He may not tell us the details of the recruiting but his letter does let us feel that we are part of the process.
Excellent!
2007年6月7日星期四
Bye Bye, W.C.
Finally China’s government decided to replace "W.C." with "Toilet" as the name of a public restroom.
A notice was published by the Beijing government yesterday.
"W.C,", or Water Closet, has been put on the door of every public restroom with the Chinese name “Ce Suo” in China. We believe in putting Chinese name and English name together on the door of restroom so western tourists know where to go after they enjoy the delicious Chinese food.
Really? My English teacher in middle school told me his personal experience :
He was walking on the street when a western tourist asked him where was the bathroom.
“I obviously thought that was the “Public Bathroom” and told him where to go and you can imagine what happened,” he recalled, refering to public baths.
You can imagine how surprised I was when I heard that people on the other side of the world don’t use "W.C."!
Actually there were a lot of public baths when I was a child since Chinese had no bathroom or W.C. in their own houses at that time. In a typical building, usually a number of People living in one floor shared one “W.C”. And it was a simple ditch but not flush toilet. If you wanted to have a bath, you could have it in your own room with a wood tub and put the hot water into it, which took a lot of time. If you needed a shower or a bath in a real bath tub, you had to go to a public bath.
Before I was 15 years old I went to the public bathroom every week and it was so crowded that I had to wait 40 minutes outside of a shower cubicle. I was always wondering if I would become a science fiction writer since I had so much time to think. I might also become a scientist who invents a waterproof book so that people in the long line would not waste time.
As an investigative reporter, I am famous for patience in my newsroom. I could not stop thinking that it is the bath trip that helps to cultivate my patience.
This kind of inconvenience changed when I entered high school. My family moved into a new apartment and had a dark red bath tub and a flush toilet.
Last year I renovated the bathroom in my own apartment in Beijing. I covered the wall with dark blue tiles, my favorite color. On the wall I put a papyrus painting I got from Egypt. I bought a big wood tub so that I can have a spa there. With wireless appliance, I even write stories and read on my tiny VAIO when I enjoy the spa.
Now almost every Chinese family in the cities has a bathroom in their own apartment. Most new houses on sale even provide two to four bathrooms. At the same time, “Restroom” or “Toilet” already replaces “W.C.” in many public places such as restaurants, hospitals, stadiums and parks.
So, don’t worry where to go when you enjoy the Olympic Games in Beijing. We know exactly where the bath room is!
A notice was published by the Beijing government yesterday.
"W.C,", or Water Closet, has been put on the door of every public restroom with the Chinese name “Ce Suo” in China. We believe in putting Chinese name and English name together on the door of restroom so western tourists know where to go after they enjoy the delicious Chinese food.
Really? My English teacher in middle school told me his personal experience :
He was walking on the street when a western tourist asked him where was the bathroom.
“I obviously thought that was the “Public Bathroom” and told him where to go and you can imagine what happened,” he recalled, refering to public baths.
You can imagine how surprised I was when I heard that people on the other side of the world don’t use "W.C."!
Actually there were a lot of public baths when I was a child since Chinese had no bathroom or W.C. in their own houses at that time. In a typical building, usually a number of People living in one floor shared one “W.C”. And it was a simple ditch but not flush toilet. If you wanted to have a bath, you could have it in your own room with a wood tub and put the hot water into it, which took a lot of time. If you needed a shower or a bath in a real bath tub, you had to go to a public bath.
Before I was 15 years old I went to the public bathroom every week and it was so crowded that I had to wait 40 minutes outside of a shower cubicle. I was always wondering if I would become a science fiction writer since I had so much time to think. I might also become a scientist who invents a waterproof book so that people in the long line would not waste time.
As an investigative reporter, I am famous for patience in my newsroom. I could not stop thinking that it is the bath trip that helps to cultivate my patience.
This kind of inconvenience changed when I entered high school. My family moved into a new apartment and had a dark red bath tub and a flush toilet.
Last year I renovated the bathroom in my own apartment in Beijing. I covered the wall with dark blue tiles, my favorite color. On the wall I put a papyrus painting I got from Egypt. I bought a big wood tub so that I can have a spa there. With wireless appliance, I even write stories and read on my tiny VAIO when I enjoy the spa.
Now almost every Chinese family in the cities has a bathroom in their own apartment. Most new houses on sale even provide two to four bathrooms. At the same time, “Restroom” or “Toilet” already replaces “W.C.” in many public places such as restaurants, hospitals, stadiums and parks.
So, don’t worry where to go when you enjoy the Olympic Games in Beijing. We know exactly where the bath room is!
2007年6月5日星期二
The Chinese part of the poisoned pet food story
How did the Chinese factory that produced the poisoned wheat protein powder and killed pets in the States destroy the evidence?
In the beginning of May when the joint investigation team of officials from FDA and AQSIQ (General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China) came to Wuxi Jiangsu to investigate the factory that produced wheat protein powder, the source of poisoned pet food, they found the most important evidence has already been destroyed.
What happened?
Today I read the newest issue of Caijing Magazine and find:
In the middle of April, Li Jun Mao, the manager of An Yin-the company that sold the material for pet food-moved all the machines and wheat? to another village with more than ten tricycles. Each worker who worked for the movement got several hundreds RMB (about $50). These machines and wheat protein powder were moved to another place then.
At the same time, Mao tore down a row of plants in the factory and moved all the ruins. Then he dug out the soil in the ground in case any chemical ? maybe found by testing the soil.
Before the movement, Mao claimed his company had never export wheat protein powder to the States in an interview.
It took Mao several days to do all the things. Both the county government and the police station of the town close to his factory did nothing to stop him.
Ironically, Anyin, the name of the factory also Mao’s nickname_means ”safe camp”.
Then the central government launched a food safety crisis public relation campaign and set a rule that the exported pet food should be checked to see if it has melamin. But what about the pet food sold in China and other goods?
In the beginning of May when the joint investigation team of officials from FDA and AQSIQ (General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China) came to Wuxi Jiangsu to investigate the factory that produced wheat protein powder, the source of poisoned pet food, they found the most important evidence has already been destroyed.
What happened?
Today I read the newest issue of Caijing Magazine and find:
In the middle of April, Li Jun Mao, the manager of An Yin-the company that sold the material for pet food-moved all the machines and wheat? to another village with more than ten tricycles. Each worker who worked for the movement got several hundreds RMB (about $50). These machines and wheat protein powder were moved to another place then.
At the same time, Mao tore down a row of plants in the factory and moved all the ruins. Then he dug out the soil in the ground in case any chemical ? maybe found by testing the soil.
Before the movement, Mao claimed his company had never export wheat protein powder to the States in an interview.
It took Mao several days to do all the things. Both the county government and the police station of the town close to his factory did nothing to stop him.
Ironically, Anyin, the name of the factory also Mao’s nickname_means ”safe camp”.
Then the central government launched a food safety crisis public relation campaign and set a rule that the exported pet food should be checked to see if it has melamin. But what about the pet food sold in China and other goods?
2007年6月4日星期一
Globalization and smoking
What kind of role does globalization play in Asian community’s smoking cessation in Philadelphia?
A business trip to China could destroy all the effort you made to quit smoking.
Last Friday I talked with Dr. Grace Ma at the Temple University. Dr. Ma has worked on the smoking cessation program in Asian community for many years. She told me many Chinese Americans smoke again after they went back from China. Because they have to do business with Chinese by smoking.
As Dr. Ma said, smoking is the social norm in China. That is why smoking cessation is really a harsh battle for these Chinese Americans who travel a lot between the States and China.
But not for Melissa, the reporter at the Inquirer.
She went to China in the 1980s and the first Chinese sentence she learned to speak is:
Smoking is not good.
That time she was in a closed train where almost everyone around her was smoking. I hope more people like Mellisa could learned Chinese and then the globalization would help the tobacco control in China.
A business trip to China could destroy all the effort you made to quit smoking.
Last Friday I talked with Dr. Grace Ma at the Temple University. Dr. Ma has worked on the smoking cessation program in Asian community for many years. She told me many Chinese Americans smoke again after they went back from China. Because they have to do business with Chinese by smoking.
As Dr. Ma said, smoking is the social norm in China. That is why smoking cessation is really a harsh battle for these Chinese Americans who travel a lot between the States and China.
But not for Melissa, the reporter at the Inquirer.
She went to China in the 1980s and the first Chinese sentence she learned to speak is:
Smoking is not good.
That time she was in a closed train where almost everyone around her was smoking. I hope more people like Mellisa could learned Chinese and then the globalization would help the tobacco control in China.
2007年6月3日星期日
My Professional Diary
My diary:
What I did last month:
For the printed paper:
I published one story about the repainting of Chinatown Gate, one story about a chinese' death, one opinion about smoking in China, helped other reporters to interview illegal immigrant and mayor election. Another story I worked on was about chinese takeout restaurants but Julie and I decided it was not a good timing to write the story. I am now preparing for my next story on town watch and also doing some research for the business desk.
For the website:
I finished my first video for the Philly.com, including video taping and editing.
I began to update my blog and market it every day after I found it was the least popular blog in the Inquirer. Now it is updated everyday and full of videos and pictures. The newest one is about Jeff Gammage’s daughter playing Chinese traditional children’s Kong Fu.
I am so lucky that Paula and Karl, editors at the national and international desk, sometimes volunteer to edit my blogs. Karl now moves to business desk. I miss him!
I am now working on my another news video on town watch
For the Caijing Magazine:
I began to write my column named observing American media. The first story is about pigs fly. The second is about Bill Marimow——an excellent journalist in front of challenges
For my personal research project——transition of the American printed media
I interviewed Andy Maykuth, Bill Marimow, Vernon Loeb, Dan Biddle, Bob Moron and Brian Tierney and video taped them at the same time. I will shoot Jennifer Lin video taping Rick (the food editor) next Tuesday. I will write stories for my column and make a video for AFPF and Chinese reporters. Some of them are very interesting, such as Brian playing a flying pig toy. I hope to interview people from the online desk and Philly.com next month.
I also set up interviews with the Executive editor of the WashingtonPost.com and Sabrina, our AFPF fellow. See you, dear Sabrina!!!
I may stay a day with the online desk of Men’s Health in July. Are journalists of the magazine as handsome as the men on their covers? I will find it in July.
I am still working to contact people from the printed side and online desk of the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NY times (since they are leaders in the transition and also convenient for me to interview)and some magazines like Time, Business Week or others.
It is not easy. I can stop Bill in the corridor of the news room or knock the door of Venon for interview but I have to send a lot of letters and looking for people who can introduce me to the editors in other newspapers. So any suggestion or help is welcomed!!!!
What I learned:
First, I learned that Caijing magazine and myself are working on the world- class professional standard. Things I am doing here are not very different from what I do in China. We have the same standards on ethics, accuracy and in-depth story. We have the same aim for excellent stories and try our best to beat our competitors.
We have the same crazy editors who send their reporters to people’s house at 10 pm. We also have the same patient editors who let you sitting beside them and take part in the editting process. Thank you Julie!
But one thing still surprised me. I am famous in my newsroom for accuracy and being impartial and I am proud of it. However, I was asked to write an opinion on smoking here when they found I have a strong feeling on tobacco control. Though my opinion is more like a story, I learned how important it is for journalists to maintain and show impartial attitude.
I also learned the harsh challenges and huge potential the Internet brought to American journalists by talking with people. I learned how to adapt to the online news by writing blog and making video by myself. Blog is good for me to practice English writing but too time consuming. Making video is exiting but sometimes frustrating. My poor small laptop crashed for 30 times when I edited my first video. I felt so bad that I cried. And then I know it is not my fault. Video editing needs powerful computer with large memory.
The fourth thing I learned is how to inhance journalists’ moral:
A an easy going editor who always open the door of his office, often walks around the news room to talk with journalists, frequently sends letters to praise journalists for their excellent stories(by the way, our editor’s trademark expression is “you are a genius”), and accepts interview inquiry from an AFPF fellow who stopped him on the corridor of the newsroom.
B an monthly award to the best reporter in this month
C emails reporting big news of reporters’ families
The fifth thing I learned is how to effectively and efficiently manage the newsroom by sign on or sign off emails. The content of these emails includes who take what job at what time. These emails are not only working record but also a promise to the whole news room. I like this idea.
The sixth thing I learned is the culture difference between the Americans and the Chinese. Though both two nations believe in independence and helping each other, Chinese would rather help others before they ask for. In Chinese' view, one should wait for help from others, and one who ask for help is regarded as a beggar. However, in the States, people don’t help until you ask them because they need to first respect your independence. But the culture difference is not a trouble to me since a reporter always has to ask.
The last but by no means the least important thing I learned is I am cool. Before I went to the States, I talked with some alumni and read all the letters from AFPF alumni. I noticed that there would be bitter frustration generated by failures, culture shock, and being ignored in the newsroom both in the States and back to their home countries.
I always learn from failures and do not expect huge culture shock since I have already worked for one year in Washington D.C. But I cannot stand being totally ignored. That is also one of the reasons that I designed such a training plan. Now I keep myself busy and learn much.
What I did last month:
For the printed paper:
I published one story about the repainting of Chinatown Gate, one story about a chinese' death, one opinion about smoking in China, helped other reporters to interview illegal immigrant and mayor election. Another story I worked on was about chinese takeout restaurants but Julie and I decided it was not a good timing to write the story. I am now preparing for my next story on town watch and also doing some research for the business desk.
For the website:
I finished my first video for the Philly.com, including video taping and editing.
I began to update my blog and market it every day after I found it was the least popular blog in the Inquirer. Now it is updated everyday and full of videos and pictures. The newest one is about Jeff Gammage’s daughter playing Chinese traditional children’s Kong Fu.
I am so lucky that Paula and Karl, editors at the national and international desk, sometimes volunteer to edit my blogs. Karl now moves to business desk. I miss him!
I am now working on my another news video on town watch
For the Caijing Magazine:
I began to write my column named observing American media. The first story is about pigs fly. The second is about Bill Marimow——an excellent journalist in front of challenges
For my personal research project——transition of the American printed media
I interviewed Andy Maykuth, Bill Marimow, Vernon Loeb, Dan Biddle, Bob Moron and Brian Tierney and video taped them at the same time. I will shoot Jennifer Lin video taping Rick (the food editor) next Tuesday. I will write stories for my column and make a video for AFPF and Chinese reporters. Some of them are very interesting, such as Brian playing a flying pig toy. I hope to interview people from the online desk and Philly.com next month.
I also set up interviews with the Executive editor of the WashingtonPost.com and Sabrina, our AFPF fellow. See you, dear Sabrina!!!
I may stay a day with the online desk of Men’s Health in July. Are journalists of the magazine as handsome as the men on their covers? I will find it in July.
I am still working to contact people from the printed side and online desk of the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NY times (since they are leaders in the transition and also convenient for me to interview)and some magazines like Time, Business Week or others.
It is not easy. I can stop Bill in the corridor of the news room or knock the door of Venon for interview but I have to send a lot of letters and looking for people who can introduce me to the editors in other newspapers. So any suggestion or help is welcomed!!!!
What I learned:
First, I learned that Caijing magazine and myself are working on the world- class professional standard. Things I am doing here are not very different from what I do in China. We have the same standards on ethics, accuracy and in-depth story. We have the same aim for excellent stories and try our best to beat our competitors.
We have the same crazy editors who send their reporters to people’s house at 10 pm. We also have the same patient editors who let you sitting beside them and take part in the editting process. Thank you Julie!
But one thing still surprised me. I am famous in my newsroom for accuracy and being impartial and I am proud of it. However, I was asked to write an opinion on smoking here when they found I have a strong feeling on tobacco control. Though my opinion is more like a story, I learned how important it is for journalists to maintain and show impartial attitude.
I also learned the harsh challenges and huge potential the Internet brought to American journalists by talking with people. I learned how to adapt to the online news by writing blog and making video by myself. Blog is good for me to practice English writing but too time consuming. Making video is exiting but sometimes frustrating. My poor small laptop crashed for 30 times when I edited my first video. I felt so bad that I cried. And then I know it is not my fault. Video editing needs powerful computer with large memory.
The fourth thing I learned is how to inhance journalists’ moral:
A an easy going editor who always open the door of his office, often walks around the news room to talk with journalists, frequently sends letters to praise journalists for their excellent stories(by the way, our editor’s trademark expression is “you are a genius”), and accepts interview inquiry from an AFPF fellow who stopped him on the corridor of the newsroom.
B an monthly award to the best reporter in this month
C emails reporting big news of reporters’ families
The fifth thing I learned is how to effectively and efficiently manage the newsroom by sign on or sign off emails. The content of these emails includes who take what job at what time. These emails are not only working record but also a promise to the whole news room. I like this idea.
The sixth thing I learned is the culture difference between the Americans and the Chinese. Though both two nations believe in independence and helping each other, Chinese would rather help others before they ask for. In Chinese' view, one should wait for help from others, and one who ask for help is regarded as a beggar. However, in the States, people don’t help until you ask them because they need to first respect your independence. But the culture difference is not a trouble to me since a reporter always has to ask.
The last but by no means the least important thing I learned is I am cool. Before I went to the States, I talked with some alumni and read all the letters from AFPF alumni. I noticed that there would be bitter frustration generated by failures, culture shock, and being ignored in the newsroom both in the States and back to their home countries.
I always learn from failures and do not expect huge culture shock since I have already worked for one year in Washington D.C. But I cannot stand being totally ignored. That is also one of the reasons that I designed such a training plan. Now I keep myself busy and learn much.
Jin Yu's Saturday
Every Saturday morning, Jin Yu takes her GongFu class at Chinatown. She practices Hong Quan, a traditional Chinese Gongfu, her mother learns to play Chinese drum. After the class, Jin Yu has lunch with Zhaogu, her younger sister, her mother and her father in her favorite Chinese restaurant.
His father , Jeff Gammage, often wears a T shirt with English and Chinese words: Jin Yu Loves Baba.
Jeff is a reporter at the Inquirer. He adopted Jin Yu and Zhaogu from China. He then decided to embed Chinese culture into his daughters’ life.
I was shocked by the fact that so many Americans adopt Chinese girls, including Meg Ryan. According to Xinhua News Agency, There have been about 40,000 Chinese children adopted by Americans by 2006.
The other thing shocked me is that many American families try hard to teach their children Chinese culture, which is very different from the things in China. In China if a family adopts a child, they may try their best to cover the adoption truth, especially to the child himself. Some families even move to a new city.
Why? I guess to Chinese it is a stigma both to these families that can not have their own children and to children abandoned by their original families.
Jeff told me it was the same thing in American two decades ago, but now things changed.
I guess one of the main reasons is that they cannot cover the different colors and faces since they adopt Chinese children. So, let’s be proud of them!
2007年6月2日星期六
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