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Karen K. Ho

@karenkho

5 Feb

Short interest in Gamestop was really high last week, but it was even higher for certain index funds. I dug into the volatile world of short-selling ETFs, what happened to one that held Gamestop, and why retail traders should avoid trying it: qz.com/1968231/retail…

ETFs are often recommended as a low-cost way to invest compared to mutual funds and less risky than stocks because they hold a basket of companies. Short-selling an index ETF means betting on an industry going down. Last week, things got complicated for XRT, a big retail ETF.

ETFs usually trade pretty close to the value of their underlying companies. But retail has suffered a lot during the pandemic, so lots of hedge funds bet XRT's underlying companies would continue to fall. The short interest rose to more than 600%. qz.com/1968231/retail…

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Karen K. Ho

@karenkho

5 Jan

the easiest way to diversify source lists is by aiming to talk to white guys last for almost every story

•Ask PR people to connect you to non-white and female sources
•Ask your sources who else should be interviewed
•Read papers and research published by junior researchers + faculty
•Follow people on Twitter
•👏Do👏the👏work that make BIPOC sources want to reply quickly to you

•Spend extra time on your intro email explaining why you want to talk to them specifically, incl. why their insight + perspective matter
•Include great examples of your past work
•Ask how they identify themselves
•Don't misquote them
•Send them the story when it's online

Read 9 tweets

Karen K. Ho

@karenkho

22 Sep 20

advice threads about journalism often prompt a lot of responses because the industry is filled with folks who never forget their mistakes, learned things the hard way, want to help others, Twitter power-users, and also the white dudes who always respond "go to law school instead"

I sometimes give advice here because it often connects to more people than if I wrote a blog post. So far the feedback is good, but I try to have a specific point. (Ex: why it's okay to do something non-journalism during a recession.) Demand for good advice has always existed.

I suspect there's also a real hunger to give and read advice right now because the media industry is such a mess. Everyone wants to do their jobs better, get competitive advantages and figure out a path forward. 2,000+ people are attending the virtual IRE conference right now.

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Karen K. Ho

@karenkho

15 Sep 20

economics taught me suffering through unpaid work does not make you strong, it only makes things harder in the short and long-term

Econ research says white men can most afford to suffer through unpaid work because they get paid the most through their entire careers at every level of education. Non-white women suffer the most from wage theft, pay gaps, and the lack of paid parental and sick leave in the US.

White households also have the most wealth of all the racial groups in the US according US Census data, so many more white men than non-white women can afford to suffer through unpaid work because of greater access to savings, housing equity, investments, inheritances, etc.

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Karen K. Ho

@karenkho

14 Sep 20

you cannot make me watch anything about The Newsroom again because I already worked as a peon in television production for a year

I quickly realized I was never going to be promoted to a chase producer or in line to be an on-air reporter so I found a reporting job in Yellowknife, a testament to my experiences with real-life Will McAvoys

Among the things I learned:
-how to put on an IFB
-what to wear for TV hits
-how to use a Bloomberg terminal
-how to eat lunch in 5 minutes
-makeup people have incredible skills
-lipstick can outlast a dishwashing cycle
-how long teens will camp out for an awards show

Read 4 tweets

Karen K. Ho

@karenkho

13 Sep 20

I feel like there is a significant number of people on the East Coast who would normally be really concerned and loud about the West Coast fires, but are dealing with depression, anxiety, job loss, job concerns, remote learning, Covid-19, and other geopolitical events

I feel like almost everyday the capacity to understand just how much state and local governments have systematically and irrevocably failed US citizens gets pushed a little more. It often feels hard to say or do anything meaningful.

(I try to donate money.)

This year includes: the extensive fires in Australia, the massive protests for George Floyd, the reckonings about race in companies and the media industry, as well as Iowa's derecho, hurricanes, the ongoing refugee crisis plus situations in Hong Kong, Beirut, and Belarus.

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