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You know that buying a stock makes you part owner of a company, theoretically with millions of other people. But, while ownership has its privileges (at minimum you get a neat stock certificate and an invitation to the annual meeting), being an owner doesn't necessarily pay. Sure, you make money if the stock goes up, but only if you sell, and you can, in theory, lose all the value of your investment if the stock tanks.
Enter the dividend. Here, you get money simply from holding the stock. Companies pay a yield, which is expressed in a percentage based on the stock's price. For example, if a stock trades at $10, and pays a 10% annual yield, your dividend payment would be a $1. (Usually, companies break out the payments quarterly, so, using our example, you¿d get, well, a quarter each quarter.)
Companies that pay dividends fall into a few categories. First, you've got your big, stable companies that generate enough cash that it makes sense to throw some back to shareholders. Next, there are businesses, like real estate investment trusts, that are in the business of sitting back and receiving cash, then distributing it to holders. And, then there are companies that need to dangle a high dividend yield like a carrot to ease investor fears. Cigarette-maker Altria has been doing this for years.
Simply because a company pays a dividend doesn't make it a good investment. After all, you may want to take a chance on a growth stock that can move higher in price than dividend payers are known to do. But, you can¿t beat the safety of knowing that, even if a stock doesn't move in a year, you¿re at least making something off your investment.
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Friday, June 20, 2008
National Press Club Honors Outstanding Journalism
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WASHINGTON, June 20, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Former USA Today Reporter, Chinese Journalist Win Press Freedom Citations
BusinessWeek was recognized for outstanding consumer and environmental journalism, and Rachel Smolkin won two awards for press criticism to highlight the 2008 National Press Club Awards.
Former USA Today reporter Toni Locy and Chinese journalist Qi Chonghuai won John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Awards for their efforts to protect sources and reveal corruption.
"Journalism is indispensable to our system of government," said Sylvia Smith, the Club's president. "Excellent journalism is a celebration of all that's good in our democracy, even when it exposes problems. The National Press Club and its contest judges are thrilled to honor the best of the best."
The awards will be presented at a dinner on Monday, July 14, at the National Press Club, which has 3,700 members who work in journalism and communications. The Club annually honors the best journalism in the country. This year, Club judges evaluated 203 entries in 27 categories.
BusinessWeek won the periodical category in consumer journalism for a series of stories on companies that take advantage of impoverished, often poorly educated Americans. The magazine also captured the Robert L. Kozik Award for Environmental Reporting for an examination of the use of carbon offsets.
Smolkin was honored for her analysis of media coverage of controversy surrounding the men's lacrosse team at Duke University. Smolkin's work was published in the American Journalism Review. She is now national editor for legal affairs at USA Today.
Locy won a John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award/national for her determination to protect sources in the face of extreme personal risk. Locy was fined $5,000 a day earlier this year by U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton for refusing to reveal her sources for stories she wrote for USA Today in 2003 about the 2001 anthrax attacks. Locy now holds the Shott Chair of Journalism at West Virginia University.
The judge said Locy could not get the money to pay her fines from outside sources, essentially condemning her to bankruptcy. A few weeks later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a stay on the fines while it considers an appeal from Locy.
The case has helped draw attention to the need for a national shield law that would protect all U.S. reporters against judges and prosecutors who are increasingly seeking the identity of sources.
"If people fear contacting reporters because their names could become known, then many of them will stop talking to reporters," said John M. Donnelly of Congressional Quarterly, vice chairman of the NPC Board of Governors and a member of the Club's Freedom of the Press Committee. "If that happens, it is not only the press that will lose but also democracy in America because it will impair the flow of information, without which we would have a harder time keeping our leaders honest."
Qi won a John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award/international for reporting on local Chinese officials involved in abuse and corruption. A journalist for 13 years for several online and print publications in China's Shandong province, Qi was sentenced in May to four years in prison for alleged fraud and extortion. He has been beaten by police on several occasions.
"Qi's imprisonment on trumped-up charges is but one example of how China has trampled on press freedom," Donnelly said. "The government of China hopes the world does not talk about the lack of press freedom in that country during the upcoming Olympics, but the fact remains that dozens of reporters in China sit in jail cells merely for doing their jobs."
For the third year in a row, Newsday was honored in the online category. The newspaper won the Joan M. Friedenberg Online Journalism Award for best site for a story about the extraordinary efforts over three years by a young family to save a child suffering from a rare disease by having another "matched" child.
The National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. Founded in 1908, the Club has 3,700 members representing most major news organizations. The Club holds more than 2,000 events including news conferences, luncheons and panels each year, and more than 250,000 guests come through its doors. On the web at www.press.org.
Here is a complete list of 2008 National Press Club Award winners:
Consumer Journalism (newspapers)
"Danger in Tow"
Los AngelesTimes
Alan Miller, Myron Levin
Honorable Mention
"Hidden Hazards"
ChicagoTribune
Patricia Callahan, Maurice Possley, Sam Roe, Ted Gregory
Consumer Journalism (periodicals)
Poverty Series
BusinessWeek
Brian Grow, Keith Epstein, Robert Berner
Honorable Mention
"The Insurance Hoax"
Bloomberg News
David Dietz, Darrell Preston
Consumer Journalism (broadcast)
TV
"Rainier Abuse"
KIRO-TV, Seattle
Honorable Mention
"Mortgage Meltdown"
WMAR-TV, Baltimore
Washington Correspondence
"VA Mental Health Crisis"
Chris Adams
McClatchy
Honorable Mention
Mike Doyle
McClatchy
Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism (single entry)
"Justice Delayed: The Media's Duke Lacrosse Debacle"
Rachel Smolkin
American Journalism Review
Broadcast
"News War"
PBS Frontline
LowellBergman
Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism (body of work/print & broadcast)
Rachel Smolkin
American Journalism Review
Broadcast
David Folkenflik
National Public Radio
Press Criticism/Book
"Regret the Error"
Craig Silverman
Robin Goldstein Award for Washington Regional Reporting
Bill Walsh
The Times-Picayune
Honorable Mention
Phil Dine
St. LouisPost-Dispatch
Edwin M. Hood Award for Diplomatic Correspondence (print, broadcast)
"Breaching America"
Todd Bensman
San Antonio Express
Honorable Mention
"The Great Nuclear Giveaway"
Sam Roe
ChicagoTribune
Broadcast
"Beyond Fear: America's Role in an Uncertain World"
The StanleyFoundation and KQED Public Radio
David Brancaccio, Simon Marks, Kristin McHugh, Keith Porter, Jocelyn Ford
Newsletter Journalism (analytical)
"Everglades: Farms, Fuels and the Future of America's Wetland"
Greenwire
Michael Burnham
Honorable Mention
"As Dockets Go Online"
Ralph Lindeman
Bureau of National Affairs
Newsletter (exclusive)
"Sallie Mae-USA Funds"
Paul Basken
Chronicle of Higher Education
Honorable Mention
"V-22 Parts Replaced"
Inside the Navy
Christopher Castelli
Robert L. Kozik Award for Environmental Reporting
"Greenwashing"
BusinessWeek
Ben Elgin
Honorable Mention
"China's Three Gorges Dam"
Shai Oster
The Wall Street Journal
Joan M. Friedenberg Online Journalism Awards
Best Site
"The Match"
Newsday
Distinguished Contribution
"Voices of the Fallen"
Newsweek
Honorable Mention
PolitiFact
St. PetersburgTimes/Congressional Quarterly
Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism
Jonathan Allen
Congressional Quarterly
Honorable Mention
Brody Mullins
The Wall Street Journal
Honorable Mention
Eartha Jane Melzer
MichiganMessenger.com
Joseph D. Ryle Award for Excellence in Writing on the Problems of Geriatrics
"Prescription Abuse"
Lucette Lagnado
The Wall Street Journal
Angele Gingras Humor Award
Single Entry
"O'Neal's Agony, or, in the Bunker with Stan"
Michael Lewis
Bloomberg News
Body of work
"Reason Gone Mad"
Bill Shein
The BerkshireEagle
Ann Cottrell Free Animal Reporting Award
"Who's Watching Out for Me?"
Tim Darrah, Christopher Schnaars
The Morning Call
Honorable Mention
"Horse Slaughter on the Border"
San Antonio Express News
Lisa Sanberg
Broadcast
"A Voice for the Voiceless: Brad Woodard Reports"
Brad Woodard
KHOU-TV, Houston
Honorable Mention
"PBS Nature: Silence of the Bees"
Doug Shultz
Michael A. Dornheim Award
William McGee
Freelance
John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award
Toni Locy
Qi Chonghuai
SOURCE National Press Club
www.press.org
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
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