Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
New York.
The New York Times building.
Duke, the editor-in-chief, sat at his desk while looking at the trending page on his computer screen. He couldn’t help but smirk.
Thanks to the successful life support system launch, NASA had been in all of the major media’s headlines. This made people feel like they were in the space race again, nothing in the world could defeat the stripes and stars.
Because of the heightened public interest, any news regarding the Ares program was highly sought after.
Media outlets didn’t have to provide any new information. They just had to process and fabricate some already-existing knowledge. Combine that with a click-baiting headline made the newspaper sales go through the roof.
Ever since entering the age of the Internet, this was the first time The New York Times achieved 20% sales growth for two consecutive months. Half of the growth was because of the editorial office.
Duke looked at the rising KPI1 number and couldn’t help but feel delighted.
Maybe he would get a promotion in two months.
Suddenly, the office door was pushed open. Journalist Camille walked in with her heels loudly clacking upon hitting the floor.
Duke, who was on cloud nine, didn’t blame Camille for not knocking. He played with the pen in his hand and happily spoke to Camille.
“What’s up? Is there another breaking story?”
Camille spoke hastily.
“Breaking story, from across the Pacific Ocean.”
Duke smiled and said, “Fantastic, give it to me.”
“I think it’s better if you take a look at it yourself.” Camille placed the report on Duke’s desk and said proudly, “You’re in for a surprise.”
Duke raised his eyebrows and sat up straight. He curiously picked up the report.
As soon as he read the title, his eyes were glued to the report.
Duke quickly finished reading the report. His fingers rubbed against the paper, and a hint of excitement appeared in his eyes.
“Jesus Christ!”
This is unbelievable!
Duke slammed the report on the table and stood up. He then stared at Camille and said, “Severe design flaws in the Moon Palace program and the Chinese discovered the loop heat pipe dissipation system was substandard… The Chinese Moon Palace program will be severely affected by it… Is this true?”
Camille chuckled and replied, “Remember that Chinese informant I told you about? And the news about China’s plan to build a space station in lunar orbit.”
There was a hint of excitement in Duke’s voice.
“They’re from the same source?”
Camille didn’t say anything. She just nodded her head.
Upon seeing the confirmation, Duke’s face lit up.
Last time, The New York Times wrote an article on China’s lunar space station plan before the Chinese media outlets. The reason why was because of Camille’s informant.
Duke still remembered how The New York Times article was trending on Twitter, and he also remembered his boss praising him at the company meeting.
Back then, they claimed China was being “overly ambitious”. Now was the perfect time for them to comment on the failure of the Moon Palace, thus creating a full-circle story.
God bless America!
God bless The New York Times!
He was confident that The New York Times sales would grow to a whole new level because of this.
Duke excitedly rubbed his hands and looked at the document on his table.
“Looks like your friend in China is quite high up.”
Camille raised her eyebrows arrogantly.
“Indeed, but that doesn’t matter; what matters is that we have common interests.”
Duke knew there was no free meal in this world. If they wanted to cooperate with this informant, they had to meet their demands.
As a person who had worked with informants in the White House, he was well aware of this. Therefore, he didn’t hesitate before asking.
“What do they want?”
Camille said, “They want us to make this story as big as possible.”
Duke smiled and said, “Piece of cake! I’ll satisfy their requests… I would have done so regardless!”
The failure of China’s Moon Palace program will pair nicely with the Ares program’s success!
There is no way this story isn’t going to make the headlines!
Even though Duke was happy to make this story a headline, Camille was a little dissatisfied.
“He’s my informant.”
Duke smiled nonchalantly and said, “Yeah yeah, your informant, it’s your story… Then, how should I award you? A raise?”
“Own office, and an assistant. It’s what I deserve.”
It was every reporter’s dream to have one’s own office and not have to work in a cubicle.
Not only did it help prevent colleagues from spying on their story, but it was also a symbol of status.
Even though Camille wasn’t a rookie reporter, there was plenty of competition in a worldwide media outlet such as The New York Times.
After hearing Camille’s request, Duke frowned. However, he quickly cheered up.
“Easy, I’ll tell my boss that you deserve an assistant and an office.”
Sniffing out stories was a crucial part of a reporter’s skillset.
Duke was happy to oblige with Camille.
A journalist with special information sources was valuable.
Camille smirked.
“Then I guess I’ll thank you in advance.”
Duke replied, “No worries, are you free tonight? I know a good restaurant.”
“Unfortunately, I have other plans tonight.”
Camille turned around and walked away, leaving behind a scent of perfume.
Duke looked at Camille walking away and pouted. He then reached for the phone on his desk.
“Anderson, come to the office.”
Anderson’s voice traveled through the phone.
“Boss, I’m on break.”
“Your break is over. I’ll give you time off in two weeks. I want to see a press release regarding the major design flaw in the Moon Palace core module. Other newspapers might know about this story already, so we have to make headlines by tomorrow!”
Violent sounds were heard through the phone, like something was slammed on the ground.
Anderson’s excited voice was heard.
“Wait, what? China plans on postponing the lunar space station? Until when? Is this reliable? I’m coming to the office right now!”
Duke didn’t want to repeat what Camille said. He sent Camille’s document to Anderson’s email and replied, “I’ve sent the relevant documents to your email, so go read it.”
Duke hung up the phone and leaned back comfortably on his office chair.
Everything is going so smoothly.
He was almost tempted to open his refrigerator and pop open that bottle of champagne…
To be honest, he couldn’t wait to drink that champagne…