My professional weekly diary

My professional weekly diary
During the last two weeks, my work at the Inquirer was harder while my work at Caijing was thriving.

I didn’t do much at the business desk. It is my fault.
First, I didn’t show my editor my capability. Since I did well at the city desk, I am confidant that I can do well at the business desk too. I don’t think language will be barrier at all since I interviewed and wrote in English well at the city desk. But I didn’t let my editors know my confidence so that they had difficulty looking for a “right story” for me.

My second mistake is that I didn’t take initiative to get assignments. I focused on my own research project: the transition of the American newspaper industry. I was busy with interviewing journalists in and outside the Inquirer, including editor of WSJ.Com, deputy managing editor of the Inquirer, the first video reporter at the Inquirer, the first blogger at the Inquirer and others else.

Today I talked with my editor at the business desk and finally I got an assignment. I felt confidant and excited again.

On the same time, my work at Caijing is making rapid progress.

First, my column at CAIJING.COM is popular. People read my stories and then go to my blog at the Inquirer.

Second, my editors like my blog at the Inquirer and asked me to translate them into Chinese and publish on Caijing’s website. At first my editor at Caijing even didn’t agree me to open a blog at the Inquirer!

Third, my editor agrees to put my video on the website. So I can not only share my experience with AFPF fellows and Chinese colleagues but also with my readers across the world! I am so excited that I can show the newsroom of the Inquirer, the most beautiful newsroom in the States to my Chinese readers!

Besides work, I am also working on arranging a workshop for myself and my other fellows. I don’t want to spend my entire research fund on books. But I cannot find appropriate workshop here. So I decide to make my own.

I design a workshop agenda, including interviews with people from three newspapers (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Philadelphia Inquirer) and one news agency (Bloomberg), a tour and an interview in Wharton Business School, tour and interview in JP Morgan, city tours of American’s first capital (Philadelphia) and the power behind the throne, the economic capital (New York City).

I also invite other fellows join the workshop. Though we are working hard to write stories, byline should not be our ultimate goal. We come here to learn and share with others. We can not leave the States without a tour in the most important newspapers and the most important cities.
Let’s go!