Days in Washington DC

筹备了一个月的新闻发布会终于姗姗来迟——由美国联邦航空局牵头，四家合作单位参与的关于“下一代机场”新闻发布会于7月17日在美国联邦航空局会议室召开。

我们的客户是佛罗里达州的一所航空航天大学，作为“下一代机场”的参与方，这所大学主要提供技术支撑。

做 为新闻系的学生，虽在国内媒体实习时曾参加过大大小小的新闻发布会，但作为筹备方之一，却是第一次参与。筹备是一个漫长的过程，从制作宣传手册到网站，从 协商时间地点到邀请媒体……每一步都不可小觑。以前做实习记者时，习惯性地在签到时接过一大叠资料，而现在才知道，那叠资料凝聚了多少背后的汗水。

做 公关，并不易。记得在制作宣传手册时，我们连续一周开会，讨论文字内容和图片，哪怕是一个动词重复使用，都会想方设法换一个词语，力求达到生动与新鲜。而 在选用图片时，更是颇费心思，尤其是封面图片。两位上司专程赶到大学，拍了数百张图片，经过层层挑选，最后仍没有选出可以作为封面的图片，此后，他们又一 早开车到华盛顿的Reagan机场，补拍了许多照片。设计师先后做了数十个封面样本，直到几乎让所有人都满意为止。

虽 然我们是实习生，但上司从来没有忘记询问我们的意见。一段话，一张图片，他都会打印出来让我看，然后跟我讨论有什么需要改进的地方。有时，我并不能提出很 有见地的意见，他们也会认真考虑，然后说出自己思量的地方。在这里，我真正地参与到整个项目中，不说“重视”，至少也受到了“尊重”。这种尊重让我更有动 力，不管在表达自己的意见，或是倾听别人的想法。因此，当得知可以去现场感受新闻发布会时，我激动不已，穿上了最professional的套装。

当我们来到美国联邦航空局大楼时，例行安检，然后登记。糟糕！我居然忘记带护照！没有任何可以证明身份的证件，意味着我将错过这一机会——这就是美国的security，自“9.11”后，政府机构的安检明显严格了许多。上司连连给我说“sorry”，但其实是我自己的错。眼看着他们乘电梯离开，我只能待在大厅里看那架悬挂在空中的飞机。实在不甘心，我觉得自己应该想办法争取进去。

于 是，我走到登记处，等到空闲时，我便跟那位负责登记的小姐攀谈起来，然后问：这栋楼有哪里可以不用登记参观吗？我忘记带护照，不能参加今天的新闻发布会， 虽然我们准备了很久……她看我也蛮可怜的，一个人在大厅傻傻地走来走去，于是答应帮我想想办法。她打了很多个电话，最后跟我说，或许可以让美国航天局的一 个工作人员接我上去，但只是“可能”。等了大概半个多钟，内部的一位官员才把我领上去。当时，我兴奋得连谢谢都忘记说了。

当他替我打开会议室的门时，所有的人都把目光转移到我身上，我顿时退后了两步，突然，看到我的上司跟我招手，我才走进去坐下。虽然错过了许多精彩的发言，但却有幸听见记者的提问。这里有来自《USA Today》，《Washington Post》和AP的记者，也有来自CNN的记者。整个会场更像是一场讨论，而不像是发布。这与我在国内参加的新闻发布会很不一样。这里的记者追根究底，而官员的回答也颇有趣味，很少听见“对此我不发表任何评论”的回答。一位来自《USA Today》的记者大概问了七八个问题，听上去更像个一个专家在与另一个专家探讨专业问题。

发布会结束后，我跟着上司和客户，开始向记者“推销”：介绍客户在“下一代机场”建设中的重要性，与记者交换名片，希望记者能做进一步采访。第一次感受到公关的“专业精神”，并发现与记者原来有许多相通之处。

回到公司，上司都非常好奇我最后怎样“混进“会场的，他们连连问我，我笑道：这就是中国女孩的魅力。

我在美国联邦航空局会议室

我和上司

Terri Donofrio今天邀请我们去Georgetown University和她的学生一起聊聊灾难新闻报道。这是我们第一次走进美国校园的课堂，而Terri的学生都是高中生，所以我们充满了新鲜感又满肚子好奇：到底美国的高中生对新闻了解多少呢？

我很惊讶，惊讶于他们的见解。谈到是否应该把充满血腥的照片刊登在主流报纸上或网络上时，一位女生说她赞成把照片放到网站上而非报纸头版。这样，想要看的读者可以自己在网络上搜寻，又避免了不是所有人都想看到血腥照片的窘境。当Terri问她的学生是否认为美国媒体充分报道了报道战争时，一位来自阿拉伯国家的女生把美国的主流电视台和半岛电视台做了比较。她说半岛电视台会将战争全部呈现出来，而美国的媒体只报道他们想要报道的部分。她把新闻媒介比喻成通道，一个事实通向普通受众的通道，她认为一切事实都应该经由它传递给受众，而中间不应该存在任何障碍物阻碍或者中断其的畅通。我简直不敢相信这是一个完全没有接触过任何新闻学专业课程的高中生的想法！她所理解的新闻自成章法而且很好诠释了她对媒介功能的认知。如果我在高二或者高三的时候有人问我“什么是新闻”，我应该没有她这样的认识。

我很感叹，感叹于他们的见闻。因为今天要讨论灾难报道，Terri请她的学生讲讲他们近10年来的灾难事件。从9.11到印度洋的海啸，从缅甸的游行再到最近中国的地震，学生们几乎列举了全部的中大的世界范围内的灾难事件。他们真的是透过新闻了解世界，知道这个世界上发生了什么，而且他们关心他们周围的世界有什么样的变化。顿时觉得自己的高中生活好像少了什么，我并不是两耳不闻窗外事的人，可是跟他们一比，我就差了一截。

这5个高中生的言谈也给我留下了深刻的印象。他们会争着发言，畅谈自己的想法。他们会挑战Terri的说法，也会跟我们争锋相对，只要他们认为自己的想法是对的，而且有足够的论据。当刘雁和我觉得对部分新闻照片的选择应该要谨慎，要注意平衡报道的时候，有女生就会质疑，新闻不是应该报道事实吗，当摄影记者选照片的时候不是应该挑那些最震撼的而非一般的照片吗？大家你来我往，充分表达出自己的观点。这样的讨论在Terri的课堂上并不鲜见，一个半小时的课程学生们和老师一直保持很热烈的互动。这才是生动的课堂！

“Does everybody know the key message of Obama campaign?” asked Michael A. Cohen, Campaign Officer for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, in a lecture on speech writers July 09, 2008. “Change”, the same word came out from audiences. Yes, it seems everybody knows Obama’s “change” message. In other words, people know why Obama is running for the next president.

“However, few people know McCain’s key message,” said Cohen. He suggested McCain’s campaign should delivery the key message: why he is running for the next president?

The lecture was given by three speech writers, Michael A. Cohen; Jeremy Rosner, Former Speechwriter for Bill Clinton; James Pinkerton, Campaign Officer for Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Cohen just published a new book, Live from the Campaign Trial: The Greatest Presidential Speeches of the Twentieth Century and How they Shaped Modern America.

In the 90-minute lecture, they discussed a range of issues, from the history of campaign oratory to a closer look at the speeches and rhetoric of Barack Obama and John McCain as they battle it out on the campaign trail to be the next President of the United States. They took a lot of examples, such as Bush’s speech in 2004 campaign. “Bush is not a good speaker in many ways, but he had better speech writers than Kerry had, which made him succeed.”

They had a spectacular conclusion: great speech combines great words, powerful ideas and big moments.

非常有幸，能在华盛顿实习期间经历美国独立日的庆祝活动。

由一圈美国国旗围成的蛋糕中间，立着芭比娃娃的改装版——头像换成了希拉里；另一个蛋糕则是奥巴马的头像——7月3日晚，来自犹他大学的实习生开始庆祝美国的生日——做蛋糕比赛。

独立日是美国的主要法定节日之一，日期为每年7月4日，以纪念1776年7月4日大陆会议在费城正式通过《独立宣言》。从意义上说，美国独立日相当于中国的国庆节。同样是国庆，但不管从庆祝形式来看，还是从民众参与来看，美国独立日与中国国庆节都不大一样。

游行、烧烤和焰火表演是独立日的传统活动。7月4日一早，人群便涌向了游行的街道——华盛顿哥伦比亚特区的宪法大道。大多数人手里挥舞着国旗，亦有人戴着印有国旗的帽子或扎着三色头花。尽管烈日炎炎，大家还是流着大汗站在街道两旁，热情洋溢地观看游行。游行队伍各色各样，部队、各州学校、少数族裔、协会或者社团、公司……实际上，不只在华盛顿，在其它州同样也有各种形式的游行。

虽不曾亲身经历国内的国庆游行，但从以往的电视画面来看，游行似乎是一件很严肃的事，陆军、空军、海军列队出场，似乎力图彰显中国的国防有多强大。而在这里，游行队伍的基调是欢快的，他们游行不为“主席台”，而是努力带动街道两旁观众的情绪。观众也很配合，鼓掌声、口哨声、尖叫声……我们看到的是一派全民欢乐的场面。

在游行所经街道两侧，有免费的雪糕和矿泉水派送，非常人性化的服务。另有身着“recycling” 的志愿者到两边回收饮料瓶，一个小孩递过空瓶后说了一句：Thank you for recycling。

下午，瓢泼大雨并未阻挡大家观看晚上的烟花表演的热情，成群结队的美国人从三四点钟就开始涌向烟花表演的地方。烟花表演大概持续了20分钟。与我们一起观看烟花两位朋友，披着美国国旗，大叫“给我更多自由”，“独立、公正、自由”。试想一下，哪位中国人身披国旗在大街上招摇，路人该有如何反应？而在这里，他们的回头率居然近乎零。

美国人的爱国情绪和自豪感，在这一刻，展现得淋漓尽致。

       今天下午我去国会听了一个hearing,是关于信用卡对学生（主要是大学生）的影响。大学生使用信用卡在美国很普遍，从学费到书费，学生用信用卡支付一切教育费用。随之而来的信用危机，主要是无力偿还欠债也引起了各界的关注。今天讨论到校在这中间扮演了什么样的角色，是我很感兴趣也是很吃惊的话题。
      Benjamin Lawsky, 6位panel之一，在他的陈述中指出，学校因”出售”学生的信息而获得丰厚的报酬。他们把学生的信息，包括电话、住址、邮箱地址告诉信用卡的公司，信用卡因而获取了学的基本资料，可以展开宣传攻势。有些信用卡公司为进驻校园支付了昂贵的入场费。学生因为相信自己的学校，所以选择学校推的信用卡的公司，可是学生是否知道学校不再是纯粹的教育机构了，它已卷入了商业运作中了？
      Ms. Christine Lindstrom,另一位panel提出了financial literacy,我的理解是自主金融管理的能力。她建议学校为学生设立关于负债的危机和代价的课程，来帮助学生提高警惕。随后也有panel建议在学生入学或者更早在高中阶段就开设一些自主理财方面的课程，让学生有个了解的过程，教育他们成为负责任的信用卡持有人。
陈述结束之后，有议员就是否需要立法禁学将学生的信息提供给信用卡公司，是否将类似理财教育的作为学校的硬性规定课，否应该对大学生申请信用卡进行限制，是否应该禁止用免费礼物诱导学生申请信用卡或刷卡消费的宣传促销手段等话题与panel展开了讨论。具体的方案要再广泛征求各方意见以后才会有定论。
　　学校是学生和信用卡公司之间的桥梁，起着举足轻重的作用。如何在信用卡问题上做好”把关人”，引导学生良性消费，妥善处理与信用卡公司之间的合作关系和合作方式，同时还要保护学生的权益，学校还有很多要考量的地方。当然，也不能把什么责任都丢给学校，学生有充分的自主权，真正作决定，真正消费的还是学生自己。而信用卡公司，作为商业机构，积极争取大学生，这一未来的主要消费群之一成为自己的客户，本来就无可厚非。所以我很期待，究竟国会将来会出台什么样的法令来改善学生信用危机的现状，同时平衡学生、学校和信用卡公司三方的利益。

今天在地铁站冲值的机器前站的时间稍稍久了点，着制服的工作人员就走过来了。“你需要求什么帮助吗？我有什么可以帮你的？”他这一问，我反而觉得不好意思了。我只是因为自己插卡的问题所以才耽误了点时间。“我很好，谢谢你。”“要是有什么问题，你就找我。”他笑着说完走了。
       走出地铁站，我一下子没了什么方向感。拿出我记地址的小本子在街口的地图上找寻我要去的地方。我还是没有什么头绪的时候，有路人走过来问我：“你是在找什么地方吗？”我拿出我的小本子告诉他，他就很仔细地告诉我走几个街口，转几个弯。怕我搞不清楚，他还特地再重复了一遍。
       在美国，总是会有人很主动地帮助你，不需要你开口救援，他已经做了要帮助你的打算。我正在美国旅游的同学说，只要你拿着地图站在街口，总会有人友好地问你需不需要帮忙。上回我和师姐第一次在华盛顿坐公交车，一位素不相识的女士知道我们要去GeorgeTown,特地在下车之前告诉我们在汽车左转时准备下车，还请司机提醒我们下车。 这是我很喜欢美国的地方。很多时候，连”would you please do me a favor?”, “Excuse me”都不必要，就已经有人帮你解决问题。这种感觉就象是你享受着周围所有的人照顾，很美好。
       我自问也是“乐于助人”的。这么多年我习惯的助人是被人先张口告诉我了，我再伸手去帮忙。如果我在大街上突然之间冒出一句“要不要帮忙啊”，我会觉得很奇怪，因为我已经对”被动”二字习以为常。现在我很欣赏美国人的主动，或者应该这么说，我很感激美国人的主动，我就是这种主动的受益者。我开始喜欢主动了，做人主动点没有什么不好，尤其是在助人之时。

昨日在《华盛顿邮报》看到一则新闻，说外国游客趁美元汇率下跌之机在美疯狂购物，文中生动地描述了来自土耳其的一队游客，下飞机后每人提着一个空箱子，直奔一家酒店，迫不及待地问“Where is Pentagon City?”（Pentagon City是毗邻华盛顿的维吉尼亚州的一个繁华商业区，连美国本地人都觉得“那不是个便宜的地方”）。他们嫌地铁太麻烦，于是打的直奔购物中心……第二天，每人提着沉甸甸的箱子又赶往机场。

这就是外国游客在美国疯狂shopping的一幕。其实，一般人都会有这种“差价”心理，谁不希望捡便宜呢？来美国之前上网搜索了一下需要带的物品，结果大部分搜索结果都是“去美国应该买什么回来”。

一位华人朋友说，“在这里多买点东西回去啊，反正现在美元汇率降了那么多。”（尽管如此，看着那些价签，我依然习惯性地换算成人民币。这样一换，连买瓶矿泉水都要思考一下了，那时就很怀念中国的“物廉价美”。）

一句“汇率降了那么多”怂恿了多少人在美国购物？有美国人质疑，这是否叫“落井下石”？

然而，从某种程度上看,这对美国未尝不是件好事, 尤其在目前美国国内低迷的经济局面下,国外游客的“阔手”消费无论如何都推进了经济的发展。 《邮报》文章称，今年第一季度的外国游客数量同比增长15％。

从 媒体的报道来看，美国人并不关心在外国怎么疯狂购物，他们似乎更关心外国人在美国国土上怎么“挥霍”，这不禁让我想到外国人在中国（特别是香港）疯狂购物 的场景。随着人民币的升值和美元汇率的下跌，不少中国的富人们开始踏出国门消费。也正是前两天，中国赴美旅游首发团抵达美国，受到了美国高层的热烈欢迎， 国会议员亲自担任导游。从此，中国的富人们又多了一个“购物的天堂”。

As an intern at Chinese newspapers before, I definitely have attended some press conferences. However, I’ve never known how the press conferences were organized and how complicated to get everything prepared.

Recently, I began to touch the preparations for a press conference with my supervisor Jeff Child, who has worked for Policy Impact Inc. for 5 years. He said he had written over 400 press releases and organized a couple of press conferences. That’s amazing to me.

I thought to prepare a press conference was just to invite some journalists to come, but I recognized it was not easy as I got involved in. We began to prepare it two weeks ago. I spent a lot time doing research on related journalists and their contact information.

Who should be invited? That’s one of the most important things. Usually the company would invite journalists on the relative beats, devise from newspapers to TV station. Then we need to contact the reporters or edits directly, and give them a “pitch”. “All you have to do is to get them interested,” Jeff said, “You have to understand what the most important story you have and express it in an effective way. Otherwise, they would not be patient.” He took an example, “Hello, I have a story that ……Would you like to hear more?”  

Besides, we need to work on some booklets and a website for the press conference, through discussing with our designer. It took us a long time to try making everything perfect, even a small word in the booklet. It’s not easy to be journalist, and now I found it’s not easy to be a good PR person either!

I think it’s similar in China—— trying to attract media’s attention and make more coverage exposure. However, there are still some differences. For example, the company doesn’t need to pay for the journalists’ trips and will not offer any “Hongbao” – some money in an envelope for any press conference. “The journalists are always trying to avoid using companies’ money, ” Jeff said, “They want to keep independent. Otherwise, they might get in trouble. “

My new work task is to call all the senators and representatives’ offices, over 500 in all, to update our records. Before I began, Drew, the executive vice president of our company, drew a chart for me. It clearly explained the main staffers, their titles, and their duties at a senator’s or a representative’s office.

My first reaction was the chart was just like a mini-government, including Chief of Staff, Legislative Director, Legislative Assistant, Legislative Aide, Legislative Correspondent, and Press Secretary. Each person handled different issues. For example, the Chief of the Staff managed all the staffers who worked in office; the Legislative Correspondent answered all the mail the senator or representative received. Drew patiently answered all the questions I raised about different staff’s duties until I understand the chart thoroughly.

After this political lesson, I developed a general sense of how a senator or a representative’s office works. Still, I needed some practical techniques on how to make phone calls. Carlie had coached me in this task before. This time she reminded me how to politely ask the receptionist my questions. “I just have a quick question. I’m just wondering…” and “Could you possibly…” were all useful phases.

Thanks to Drew and Carlie, I became confident about my job. If someone mentioned “LA,” then I would definitely know he meant the Legislative Assistant. However, new problem rose when I actually made the phone calls.

Americans are familiar with English names, but I’m not. When I asked someone to spell a name for me, often they would spell the last name, but not the first name. Sometimes I wasn’t sure whether a name was female or male. If I asked, “Could you possibly tell me his title as well,” the receptionist would say “It’s she. Her title is…”

I discussed these problems with Carlie and she gave me a few really useful suggestions. “I’d say, ‘Could you possibly spell the name, and tell me their title as well,’” she said. This way, I could avoid saying he or she, and ask two questions in one. As for the first name spelling, Carlie said it was absolutely okay to ask people who answered the phone to spell the first name and to repeat it for me, because that was their job. I was able to ask more useful questions with better technique after consulting Carlie.

The different altitudes I encounterd during my hundreds of phone calls was interesting. Some receptionists were really nice and enthusiastic. They graciously spelled the name I wanted and would encourage me to “Have a nice day,” before ending the call. Some were really in a hurry, and hung up the phone before I could even finish saying “Thank you.”

Although making phone calls is an easy task, I gained a lot from doing it. I learned how a senator or a representative’s office works, which gave me a new view on how American politics operates. I learned how to talk to different people on the phone and get the information I need politely.

As an intern at Policy Impact Communications, I am always given opportunities to learn new skills. My phone call project is an example. Everybody in the company likes to help us. Drew says I’m always welcome to ask him a question. John Epperson always asks me, “Are you happy.” Beibei always assures me everybody in the company wants to help us and make our time with them educational and enjoyable. How lucky I am to work with them and to learn from them!

I’ve tried different types of writing since I’m a journalism major, but I never wrote a technology stories. Now I finished my first tech article here in US with the help of Josh and Randy.

Josh, an account executive at our company, suggested I think of an attractive lede, then use the inverted pyramid style for the body of the story, including all the information about the product I wanted to introduce. It wasn’t just about translating the words from Chinese to English, or from the product information into my own words, as I first thought. What I needed to do was find out the important or fascinating elements of the products and express my own opinion about it while I briefly explained the product. I made some change according to Josh’s advice. My story combined news, information and opinion.

When the structure of my story was in place, Randy, an intern from the University of Utah helped me to beautify my language. He identified those words or sentences which did not make sense to him and provided another way of writing them after he heard my explanation of what I meant to say.

Here, I am given the best atmosphere to learn and gain new techniques. People in the company support me whenever I think of an idea I’d like to try. They always give me the opportunity to take on new challenges and provide suggestions to help me accomplish what I’m trying to do. I progress not only in work skills, but also in my oral and written English abilities.