Early Exhaustion In Online Journalism Careers

July 21st, 2010

The Internet has turned many news outlets into frenzies of über-competitive racing to break even the smallest tidbits of news, and many young journalists can’t handle the pressure.

  • The Internet has changed the way journalism works, and now many young people who envisioned trips to exotic locales to capture groundbreaking stories are instead tasked with sitting at their computers and watching for the smallest pieces of information to publish.
  • Editors now foster competitiveness by posting the most-viewed articles on their sites and even calculating paychecks based on how many clicks a writer’s articles have gotten.
  • These conditions have led to increased turnover at news outlets like Gawker and Politico, with many young journalists leaving quickly because they’re exhausted.

Facts & Figures

  • The top editors at Politico wake up as early as 4:30 am on workdays (a typical newspaper workday is from 10 am to 7 pm).
  • Out of a staff of just 70 reporters and editors, about a dozen of Politico’s employees quit in the first half of this year.
  • An entry-level reporting job at Politico can pay as much as $40,000 per year.

Best Quote

“At a paper, your only real stress point is in the evening when you’re actually sitting there on deadline, trying to file. Now at any point in the day starting at 5 in the morning, there can be that same level of intensity and pressure to get something out.” – Jim VandeHei, Politico’s Executive Editor

Using Social Media To Nonprofits’ Advantage

July 21st, 2010

Nonprofits are learning that the interactive and communicative elements of fund-raising are essential for raising money with social media.

  • On Facebook, direct fund-raising has proven to be unsuccessful.
  • Nonprofits raise more money when donors can engage in the philanthropy (through dialogue and games, for example) rather than direct solicitations.
  • Establishing relationships between Facebook users and real-world outcomes has led to more people donating to a cause.
  • Zynga (the largest game developer on Facebook) has partnered with Water.org and Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA) and has raised more than $130,000 for the causes.

Facts & Figures

  • 61.1% of nonprofits reported little to no results when fund-raising through social media.
  • More than 235,000 nonprofits are on Facebook, but a relatively small number of them have donor funds.

Should We Let Computers Make Our Investing Decisions?

July 21st, 2010

Dissatisfied with human beings’ powers of intelligence, several firms are trying to use AI to create the ultimate investor.

  • Using a branch of artificial intelligence called “machine learning,” some investors are trying to create an AI that can analyze market data, make predictions about the future, decide which stocks to buy and sell, and learn from its mistakes.
  • The advantage of using an AI program is that it can process huge amounts of data in a short time. But there is no guarantee that the program’s calculations will remain accurate if fundamental market conditions change.
  • One of the companies pioneering this type of AI is Rebellion Research, a small hedge fund based in New York run by a quartet of investors in their 20′s. In recent years, the company has performed better than both the Dow and the S&P 500.

Facts & Figures

  • Rebellion Research has beaten the S&P 500 index by an average of about 10% a year since 2007.
  • In 2009, the hedge fund increased by 41%, whereas the Dow only increased by 19%.
  • Star, Rebellion Research’s AI program, keeps track of approximately 30 factors that affect a stock’s market performance. It usually holds between 60 and 70 stocks at any given moment.

Best Quote

“It’s pretty clear that human beings aren’t improving.But computers and algorithms are only getting faster and more robust.” – Spencer Greenberg, one of the founders of Rebellion Research

Beth Rhyne On Fighting Poverty with ACCION

July 21st, 2010

beth-rhyne.jpg Beth Rhyne is a true microfinance expert. In her career, she’s overseen microenterprise development at USAID and spent eight years in Kenya and Mozambique, consulting on microfinance policy and operations. From 2002 to 2008 she was the senior vice president of ACCION International, and today she’s the managing director of ACCION’s Center for Financial Inclusion. Beth earned both her master’s and her Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard, and she’s written five books on microfinance (so far). We’re impressed, and really lucky to have her answer some of our questions. You can learn more about ACCION and donate on their cause page.

TILE: What exactly is microfinance?
Beth: Microfinance is about providing financial services to poor and low income families. When people have access to microfinance they can get loans, maintain savings, buy insurance, and send money safely to loved ones. We take these services for granted, but imagine what our lives would be like if we couldn’t do that. (What would your family’s life be like without a bank account, home mortgage, car or health insurance?) Even basic services make a big difference for poor people, and today more than 2 billion poor people worldwide lack access to them.

TILE: Why not just give the money away instead of lending it?
Beth: When you give money away, it gets spent and that’s the end of that. When you use it to make a loan, it gets used over and over. We care about the dignity of the person, and making loans promotes that. When someone becomes a valued customer of a bank, they gain a pride and a sense of worth that does not come from a handout. Unlike pure charity programs that treat people as passive and unable to care for themselves, we believe that people are their own best agents for working their way out of poverty.

TILE: What motivated you to get involved with Accion/ fighting poverty?
Beth: I got involved in microfinance while living in Kenya 25 years ago. I saw microfinance as a way to create a world in which the benefits of financial services would be available to everyone, not just the elite few. I was very happy to join ACCION 10 years ago because I had watched ACCION’s pioneering work in building microfinance into something that would make a long lasting difference in Latin America. I wanted to help bring that difference to Africa and Asia.

TILE: What’s the hardest thing about working in microfinance?
Beth:The hardest thing about working in microfinance is explaining how it works to people who have never heard of it, and raising the money from them to make it work better. The best thing (one of the best things) is having friends all over the world.

TILE: How do you think young people can play an important role in the changing landscape of philanthropy, especially as it relates to poverty?
Beth: Young people can change the face of philanthropy and poverty by nurturing their own passion for social change and by learning about how to make things happen. Some adults have lost the sense that the world can be made better by individual efforts, so when a young person can speak about a solution that really works, like microfinance, it inspires adults to contribute and get involved. And when you connect with your own friends in ways that are both fun and pro-philanthropy, you can influence a wider circle of people.

TILE: What’s the best advice you would give to your teenage self?
Beth: Become a seeker on the trail to answer these two questions: What do I most love to do? How can I use that passion to make the world a better place?

>> TILE brings you exclusive opinions, explanations, and interviews from experts in every industry. To read more, click on Ask the Experts in the TILE Library.

Have a burning question or an expert you’d like to see interviewed? Just Ask TILE!

The Bumpy Roads Of India’s Growing Economy

July 19th, 2010

Public projects in India are unpredictable and foreign investors are watching.

  • India’s rapidly growing economy could be hindered by the sorry state of their public roads.
  • India’s roads are narrow and often unnavigable. Their condition often stalls industrial activity and sometimes causes perishable goods to spoil before reaching their destination.
  • India is looking towards foreign investors to fund a massive reparation of India’s roads. However, because of India’s reputation for poorly completed infrastructure projects, few outsiders are game to invest.

Facts & Figures

  • National highways account for only 2% of India’s total road network
  • New Delhi plans to build 7,000 km of new road every year

Best Quote

“Delays are a fact of life in India, and investors know it.” – J.N. Singh, member of finance, National Highways Authority of India.

The Point Of No Return

July 19th, 2010

It seems that no funds are consistent enough to weather the worst economies, no matter how reliable they seem.

  • In the wake of the economic crisis, more people are investing in “absolute return” funds - portfolios that supposedly deliver gains in any kind of market.
  • Firms advertise these funds as low-risk investments because they focus on short duration and high quality securities.
  • It seems, however, that the name of these funds might be misleading. In recent months they have been gaining little, and in some cases even been posting losses.

Facts & Figures

  • The Aston/New Century Absolute Return exchange-traded fund lost 9.51% in June

Best Quote

“You just have to be careful that absolute return doesn’t turn into no return.” – Mr. Tuttle, Financial adviser

Dealing with Questionable Content

July 19th, 2010

Workers who screen websites for explicit content are increasingly in demand, but many companies are failing to provide these employees with adequate psychiatric care.

  • Internet content reviewers, people who police popular websites in order to identify and remove inappropriate content, are being hired in ever greater numbers.
  • Although these jobs are in high demand, they do not pay well, and many companies that hire internet content reviewers don’t guarantee them psychiatric help in order to deal with the hundreds of graphic and disturbing images they see every day.
  • The psychiatrists who have interviewed these workers have concluded that many of them have been psychologically affected by their jobs. These findings are troubling, especially considering that companies want to hire ever more screeners, young people are often attracted to the work, and the jobs are being increasingly outsourced.

Facts and Figures

  • At one company, Telecommunications on Demand, 50 internet content reviewers examine a combined average of 20 million images per week.
  • These employees are paid $8-$12 per hour.

Best Quote

“You have 20-year-old kids who get hired to do content review, and who get excited because they think they are going to see adult porn. They have no idea that some of the despicable and illegal images they will see can haunt them for the rest of their lives.” – Hemanshu Nigam, Former chief security officer at MySpace

Today at TILE… Are we there yet?

July 18th, 2010
Today at TILE we talked about some big events in the week’s news and how the market is reacting to them. News obviously impacts financial decision making, but how? This week, BP finally capped their leaking oil well, Goldman settled with the SEC, and the much-anticipated financial reform bill passed. So how can you figure out what all of this action means for specific companies, sectors, and markets?

The TILE team had mixed reactions to all of these news events… reactions that may be familiar to anyone watching the newspapers or trying to read the markets. Across all topics, initial optimism about each item seemed to fade the more the team thought or read about it. Regarding the capping of the oil well (a seemingly great piece of news), there was a great deal of skepticism: “I don’t believe it,” and “this is a very minor victory considering the damage that’s already been done.” On the financial reform bill, there was a lot of confusion about what the legislation meant and whether it would actually improve the financial sector. The Goldman settlement evoked a lot of different reactions, from the positive to the unimpressed to more socially focused, such as “what do people around the country think?” and “I have friends who intern there – how will this affect them?”

Read the rest of this entry »

Luxury Sites Replace Luxury Stores

July 16th, 2010

In a struggling economy, online shopping might replace even the highest high-end stores.

  • In the wake of the recession, luxury stores are forced to sell merchandise on the web.
  • Selling clothes online, though less atmospheric than a downtown boutique, allows profits to go directly to the company by cutting out the costs of a store.
  • Technology’s infinite possibilities has increased the number of high-end online stores, allowing boutiques to make their websites seem as impressive and exclusive as their boutique.

Facts & Figures

  • In 2009, when the worldwide luxury-goods industry fell 8%, luxury sales online were forecast to grow 20%

Best Quote

“These brands are finally taking the plunge to establish an online retail presence. The recession forced these manufacturers to realize they needed to look for revenue wherever they could.” – Jeffrey Max, Chief Executive, Venda E-Commerce Sites

Strong Quarter, Weak Economy?

July 16th, 2010

Although second quarter reports look strong, the economy may start to level out.

  • Fear of an economic slowdown caused the stock markets to dip.
  • Airlines are expected to make their first annual profit since 2007  due to fuller planes and higher fares.
  • Stronger Asian economies are increasing exports, which helps struggling U.S. shipping companies.
  • Despite all this, there has been poor job growth in the U.S in the past few months.

Facts and Figures

  • New home sales fell 33%, and existing home sales fell 2.2%.
  • Air shipments (mostly Asian exports) increased 30% from last year.

Best Quote

“Bottom line is earnings may hold up, but sales growth is slow and companies aren’t going to invest their record cash holdings until it improves.” – Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst of Standard & Poor

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