Wednesday, July 28, 2004 :::
 
my internship is almost over and again I have failed to really chronicle the adventure. It's been a good summer. I'm really glad I came here.

I think the hardest lesson I have learned is that people are in this business for the wrong reaons. It's amazing considering the less-than-ideal pay and the bad hours that there would still be people who aren't in it for the wrong reasons. I understand people's need to have a good career. After all I'm the same way, but it can go to the extreme sometimes. But Kyle is right, I just have to focus on doing the work and let that speak for itself.

I learned good editing makes a difference. Tim Kelly is right, editing is important.  They play a big role in how you improve as a reporter.

Why haven't I chronicled the adventure? I need to post in this more o I can reflect on my writing and what I read and what not.


::: posted by mai at 7:14 PM



Friday, April 23, 2004 :::
 
oh geez....it's been almost a month...how am i suppose to keep up. in eed to be better about reading the newspaper..or i have read it...some notes

Hilton opens 1st phase of time-share resort on International Drive

By Chris Cobbs | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted April 23, 2004

Accented with a Mediterranean theme, the Hilton Grand Vacations Club on International Drive opened its first 96 time-share units this week, tempting time-share shoppers in the competitive Orlando market with next-generation features.

The 456-unit project, to be built in seven phases and finished in late 2007, occupies 34 acres at International Drive and Vineland Boulevard, adjacent to the Premium Outlet Center.

Allright...tourism=orlando=timeshares are valuable...should keep up with these developments...

Antiterroist company to keep track of..... CyTerret Corp. . They have made a minesweeper that locates mines...now imgaine that!

Linda Watson---new exclusive director of LYNX--central florida bus company....

Dow is up 140 points!! HOORAY!

::: posted by mai at 4:23 PM



Saturday, April 03, 2004 :::
 
in today's orlando sentinel:
US adds 308,000 jobs--even in manufacturing
For the first time in more than two years, the nation's economy is acting as if it is finally putting Americans back to work.

Businesses last month created 308,000 new jobs, a figure that surprised economists -- who had expected about 100,000 -- when the Labor Department released it Friday.

The biggest gains were in construction; health care; dining and drinking establishments; and financial services. And for the first time in more than 3½ years, the reeling manufacturing sector improved.

This was, however, but one month at the end of a long string of disappointments. In fact, it would take seven months just like March to get back to where we were before terrorism and recession ravaged the economy, claiming more than 2 million jobs.
Also during the month, unemployment edged up slightly to 5.7 percent from 5.6 percent. The average length of unemployment slipped slightly from February's 20.3 weeks -- the longest average in more than 20 years -- to 20.1 weeks in March.

BUT
In Orlando, the latest numbers are old news because the area has long resisted the national trend and instead has regularly produced jobs.

did we not see this coming: As jurors apparently neared guilty verdicts Friday in the corruption case against two former Tyco International executives, the judge declared a mistrial because of outside pressure on a juror.

State Supreme Court Justice Michael J. Obus announced his decision as the jury conducted its 12th day of deliberations in the 6-month-old trial.

"The court has decided it has no choice but to grant a mistrial, clearly arising from pressure that has been brought to bear on one woman whose name and background was widely publicized -- lawfully but in violation of the convention that is ordinarily and wisely observed," he said.

District Attorney Robert Morgenthau immediately issued a statement saying his office will seek a retrial of former Chief Executive Officer Dennis Kozlowski and former Chief Financial Officer Mark Swartz.



::: posted by mai at 3:36 PM



Thursday, April 01, 2004 :::
 
important business news to note today:


AP: AT&T, Kodak Booted From Dow IndustrialsThree longtime components of the Dow Jones industrial average -- AT&T Corp., International Paper and Eastman Kodak -- will be removed from the index of the top 30 industrial stocks, Dow Jones & Co. announced Thursday.

They will be replaced by financial services company American International Group Inc., Baby Bell Verizon Communications and pharmaceuticals maker Pfizer Inc. The change will take place at the start of trading April 8.

"Our main focus in this particular group of changes was not who do we kick out or replace. It was to recognize the trend of the growth of the financial or healthcare sectors," said John Prestbo, editor of Dow Jones Indexes and markets editor of The Wall Street Journal. "When it came to selecting companies to leave the Dow to make room for the new ones, we took recognition of another trend, and that is basic materials stocks have become less important, less weighty in the market."

Surburbia vs. City Electronic Arts, a video game company is still in the process of deciding where to go.
Video game giant Electronic Arts Inc. has said it would choose downtown Orlando over a Seminole County site if it decides to locate a major hub in Central Florida, Mayor Buddy Dyer said Wednesday.

He said plans for upscale condominiums, a movie theater, shops and offices were among the factors that swayed the company in the city's favor.

"I don't view us as competing against Seminole County," said Dyer, who is leading the charge to assemble an incentive package worth more than $40 million. "In the last couple of months [EA] made the decision to come downtown versus any other site in Central Florida."

But a company spokesman said he knows of no such commitment, and Seminole County officials say they continue to aggressively pursue EA. The county has its own incentive proposal, which it is keeping under wraps.

Seminole is playing up its serene suburban setting -- "the idea of stepping out of an office, standing in a field, looking at trees, going for a jog at lunchtime," said Seminole County Commissioner Randy Morris.

"We believe our proposal has relative advantages and merits that are superior to a downtown proposal," he said.

EA reiterated it also was still considering cities outside of Florida for the center that could create 775 new high-wage jobs.

The idea of Orlando and Seminole County facing off for California-based EA, the maker of the popular Madden NFL and NBA Street video games that helped register $2.5 billion in sales last year, would seem counter to the spirit of "regional cooperation" -- often touted by elected officials as a key to economic development.

stock changes:
Board pushes stock-options reform
High-tech firms' earnings would be particularly hit hard
Sentinel Staff Writer

April 1, 2004

Corporate America's accounting rule-maker moved closer Wednesday to forcing companies to deduct employee stock options from their profits, setting the stage for a congressional showdown pitting Silicon Valley against Wall Street.

Heeding the call for accurate income statements, the Financial Accounting Standards Board proposed a reform that would force publicly held businesses to treat all stock-based compensation as an expense -- a change that would dramatically reduce the earnings of many well-known companies, particularly in the high-tech industry.

Under the current rules, companies simply must disclose the estimated costs of issuing stock options in footnotes to their financial statements. These obscure notes often reveal eye-opening swings of fortune.

For instance, the collective profits of high-tech bellwethers Intel Corp., Cisco Systems Inc., Oracle Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. would have been reduced by a combined $3.3 billion last year had they been required to expense options.




::: posted by mai at 1:45 PM



Wednesday, March 31, 2004 :::
 
march 31.

OPEC to raise prices.
airlines are not doing well.

consumer confidence has not changed. ---sharply down from january reading.
The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index slipped to 88.3 this month from a revised 88.5 in February. The February figure was sharply lower than the revised 97.7 reading in January.

disney milltary resort, opens with out union After a $92 million expansion, the U.S. Army will reopen its military-only Walt Disney World resort today with twice as many hotel rooms -- and almost no traces of its once-unionized work force.

Before the Army shut down the Shades of Green resort in 2002 and laid off almost all of its staff, between 60 and 100 members of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 509 changed soldiers' sheets, poured their drinks and carried their luggage.

things to do:
update portfolio
research orlando companies and stories about it.
find out everything you can about it...

figure out: consumer issues, real estate and technology.

::: posted by mai at 9:15 PM



Wednesday, March 17, 2004 :::
 
i forgot I had this. This will be useful for future journalism posts.
With further adieu, some stuff to know for today.

In the Orlando Sentinel business section: March 17

darden restaurant, inc earlings up:
Orlando-based Darden Restaurants Inc. Wednesday reported third-quarter net earnings of $77.9 million, or 46 cents per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $61.8 million, or 35 cents per diluted share, in the same quarter for 2003. Sales for the present quarter were $1.24 billion, up from $1.18 billion.

people are going to spend more because of their tax return checks:
Call it Uncle Sam's retail boost -- some retailers say they expect a 20 percent or more bump in sales this spring, thanks to cash-happy Americans willing to unload their tax-refund checks.
Nearly 12 percent of consumers, and almost 20 percent of Americans between 25 and 34 years old, plan to use some or part of their tax refunds to make a major purchase, according to a study released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation
(tax return average: $2,182, or up 4.4 percent)

Fed rates are are unchanged.
ideas:
martha stewart not being ceo or chair, affecting her brand???
what's in a name: how businesses get their name....copyrighted??

lesson re-learned: if it's not fair or accurate, it's a pile of crap. this applies to opinion columns as well.

::: posted by mai at 7:49 PM



Friday, November 29, 2002 :::
 
Blogs has served other journalists well. I think it could serve me well also. What better way to learn then to document what you have done? To talk about sources. To talk about stories. Whatever is connected or even remotely connected to the world of journalism.

It's scary. Admiting to the world that you really don't know what yo'ure doing. Showing your faults. But then again, it's my chance to learn from my mistakes by seeing them. I guess perhaps I'm hoping that other young journalists read this site and think. "Well, that was dumb, I'm not going to make that mistake." Because yes, it's great to learn from your mistakes, but honestly it's even greater to learn from the mistakes of others!

What am I'm afraid of? I'm afraid my writing ability isn't to the standards of others. I'm afraid of being caught, being considered a fraud in the business. I'm afraid someone is going to show up and say, "You're not really a journalist! You've been faking it all this time." Well. That's the rollercoaster ride.you work on a story. You call a source. You don't get the source. The person refuses to talk to you. The person can't stand you. You forgot to ask the right questions. The university president dodges your question. You're staring at a screen, afraid that the story your editor has asked you to do won't even be reatively closed to done. Then when you have all the information, the words doesn't come out. You change your lede at least twice, if not MORE, to make it perfect.

Well, folks, It's all in a day's work. The key is to handle it.

This blog will serve multple purposes.
1.) to showwhat's going on in my journalism career.
2.) to show the coolest stuff out there in journalism. (cool websites, stories whatever)
3.) to show whatever comes up.

I hope you enjoy. Next time some backgraound. If you have any suggestions,please e-mail me at hoangmp@wku.edu

::: posted by mai at 10:13 PM

ARCHIVES :::

a digest of a struggling journalist. a writer? a reporter. definitely both.