Final Online Journalism Story

Many economists believe that the world is entering the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. Many experts have gone public about what they believe to be the causes and the possible effects of a worldwide economic crisis. However, many Americans are still unsure of what this will mean to them.

Here is a timeline of some of the more localized effects of the recession that have happened this year:

• U.S. employers laid off 63,000 workers in February of 2008, the most in five years.• In April 2008 nine U.S. states were declared to be in a recession by Moody’s.
• In October of 2008 the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that an additional 156,000 jobs had been lost in September.
• In December 2008 the National Bureau for Economic Research published a report for Economic Research. It stated that the U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007, when economic activity peaked.


Despite these warnings, many Americans are unaware of how this will actually affect them. A group of people that is among the most greatly affected by this recession is the small business owner. From bakery owners to technology consulting firm owners, the economy is an issue that weighs heavily on everyone’s minds.

Judy Ghosin, owner of Purple Awning Pastries in Endwell, New York, says that owning her own business during the current economic recession is difficult. “It's extremely difficult right now, mainly because I don't know yet how we'll be affected. We're anxious to see if people are cutting back over the holiday season, or how the first of the New Year is, or if brides cut back on the size and style of their wedding cakes. It's really the uncertainty that is creating angst right now.” Though, despite the uncertainty, so far, the bakery has not seen a drastic decrease in business. In fact, Ghosin adds that Purple Awning Pastries has seen a 20 percent year-to-year increase since last Thanksgiving. Regardless of the strain and the 60-hour workweeks that Ghosin must put in to keep the bakery running, she says that it is totally worth it. She says, “It's my business-to succeed or fail with, but it's pretty much on my shoulders. I'm not tied to corporate policy. I am corporate policy! I’m not tied to inefficient co-workers. You pull your weight here or you go. I’m not tied to the whim of some executive. I am the executive-in-charge here.”

Eric Camplin, the Executive Vice President and co-managing partner of Piocon Technologies in Oak Brook, Illinois also has voiced concerns over the current state of the economy. Camplin explains the purpose of Piocon;“We are a technology consulting firm. We focus on building business solutions for our customers, mostly around Oracle database software and something called 'Business Intelligence' (BI). BI is all about getting important information, usually in the form of measures or metrics, to key executives in a timely manner. The metrics help them see the state of their business at any given time.” Like Purple Awning Pastries, Piocon has not seen a significant decrease in business. Camplin says, “Fortunately, we've been somewhat insulated from the economic downturn. I say, ‘somewhat’ as we have seen the signs and our customers are certainly being more careful. The good thing about BI is that it is very important in a bad economy to be able to see what's going well or not so well and being able to react quickly. This is exactly what we provide, so our services are important in these times!”

So, while many are struggling in the current economic conditions, there are companies that continue to be successful. However, even these businesses must work hard and be dedicated to survive the recession.

Greece

Story can be found here. 

I found this story interesting for a few reasons.

The first reason is that I have personal ties to this story. My senior year of high school, I traveled to Greece, (Athens and Delphi) as well as Italy with a group from my school. Athens was the last stop on our trip, and the place that I felt most unsafe. While I loved Athens- the city, the culture, the language, the food- I could not help but feel that as Americans, we were not welcomed there. During the first leg of our trip, we watched footage on television of American flag burnings, riots and protests in Athens. We thought for awhile that we were going to have to cancel that part of our trip. Our tour guides told us that if any of the Greek people asked us our nationality, we should lie. We were told to tell people outside of our group that we were Canadian. 

I'm not implying by any means that all Greeks are violent. Riots like the one in the New York Times story have always baffled me. Why would you protest alleged excessive police violence with more violence? It just gives the police force a justifiable reason to get involved and use force. 

I just hope that this ends before more people get hurt or killed. 

(Former) President George W. Bush

Story can be found here. 

There are a few things about this story that I find shocking. I'll preface what I'm about to say with a little disclaimer. I'm one of the majority of Americans who doesn't like President Bush. I never have liked him and was sickened when he was elected.  Shocker, I know. 

First of all, who in their right mind would contribute to Dubya's Presidential Library? He is arguably one of the biggest failures as President, and I sure wouldn't want my name or money attached to a library in memory of those infamous 8 years. 

Secondly, he is an awful public speaker and at times seems borderline illiterate. At least Presidents Clinton and Reagan were intelligent and good public speakers before they signed book deals and toured as public speakers. 

Thirdly, I don't think it's plausible to compare Bush to President Carter. To me, despite his shortcomings during his presidency, President Carter deeply cares about the well being of the impoverished in the world. Bush has lived a life of luxury and seems to be one of the most selfish individuals ever, so I doubt he will go into peace work like Carter did.

So, what should President Bush do?

If I was him, I would hide out for a very, very long time. 

Pirates!

Story can be found here. 

The Oceania Nautica was "attacked" by pirates off the coast of Yemen in a Safety Protection area. I've been on a few cruises with my family, and the thought of a small boat armed with rifles being able to attack a giant cruise ship baffles me. I understand that pirates are a legitimate threat, but cruise ships seem pretty invincible to me. 

The coverage on the CNN website is logical and easy to understand. There are maps, links and video. Other sites should use CNN as a guide. 

Black Friday

First story can be found here. 

Second story can be found here. 

Every year when Black Friday rolls around, the media makes a huge deal out of the crowds of people who swarm stores in search of shopping deals. This is the first year, however, that I remember the deal toll climbing to 3 people. 

In Palm Desert, California, two people were shot in a Toys R Us. A Wal-Mart employee in Long Island was killed when people stormed the store. Four others were taken to the hospital. 

I don't know if it's the economic recession that's causing the madness this year or if it's just two isolated cases that happened on the same day, but this is disgusting. The holidays are time to enjoy being with loved ones, not to kill others over the last Tickle Me Elmo on sale or run over sales clerks so that you can get an ipod for less money than normal. It's just all so trivial. It's just shopping. 

Larceny in the Circle Apartments

Congo

Story can be found here. 

I found this story significant for a few reasons. 

Firstly, I consider myself fairly well informed on world events, but I had no idea that anything like this was going on the in the Congo. My TA for my Media and Politics class last year was from Zimbabwe and always complained how little accurate press coverage Africa gets. I guess that this proves her point. 

Secondly, I found the layout of this story pretty awful. I am not a huge fan of Yahoo! news but I use it because I have an Yahoo! email account and it makes it easy to read important headlines. However, they should have used more maps and graphics to make this story less tedious to read. I don't know if I could pick the Congo out on a map of Africa (I have a general idea, but I would probably be wrong) and I know that a lot of Americans don't know their African geography.