Chapter 50: Economic News is Still News

[Chapter 50: Economic News is Still News]

As Katherine had predicted, it only took a day for another piece of news to break.

The Oakland Paints Company had developed a new paint that exceeded formaldehyde limits, but the company had hidden this test result and attempted to continue pushing for a public offering by bribing officials.

This was a serious issue, and market reactions were immediate, with the paint company's stock price plummeting.

A day later, more news came out, this time regarding Lino Bank expressing distrust in Oakland Paints and demanding repayment of debts.

All of this was initially reported by the Los Angeles Herald, and other media outlets quickly followed suit. Ian had given them this scoop for free because he needed impact more than the sale price of the news.

With each piece of news that came out, Oakland Paints' stock continued to tumble.

Ian found himself at a loss, as the economic news had not improved his experience points in any way.

On the other hand, his left eye's abilities had improved -- not simply in experience, but in capability!

...

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The sound of gunfire echoed continuously at the shooting range.

Ian ran through the obstacle course, firing at the emerging targets, hitting each "thug" in the forehead with precision. After emptying his gun, he quickly reloaded and continued shooting until all targets were eliminated.

"Good job, Mr. Carr," the shooting instructor called out excitedly from a distance. "One minute twelve seconds. 96 points for still shooting, 83 points for moving shooting. You hit the hostage twice and got hit once. You were a bit hasty, but that's okay; you're not the police rescuing the hostage."

"Reporters can save people too. Right hand holds the camera, left hand shoots," Ian replied.

He casually set the gun down and returned to the lounge to sip his drink.

He confirmed that his left eye's marksmanship had improved.

Not only marksmanship but even the replicated skills of electrical work and lock picking had also improved, and it seemed he was on the verge of unlocking a fourth replication ability. According to the usual progression, his left eye could only achieve three replications when it hit max level.

This finally allowed Ian to understand.

His right eye leveled up through exposure to violent news, while his left eye improved through tabloid and sensational news. Leveling up brought about ability improvements, but there was a limit. When upgrading, new abilities could be gained, but the effects of the old abilities wouldn't improve with the upgrades.

However, economic news could continue to enhance the left eye's abilities and could even break through that upper limit!

This made sense; political news would likely elevate his right eye's further capabilities.

Therefore, violence was tied to politics, while scandal was linked to economics?

That sounded about right!

This was the reason why his last piece of news about a gamble with a client led to the early emergence of that third replication ability, as it also fell under economic news.

So, his media outlet needed to delve into political and economic reporting in the future?

---

At the Los Angeles Herald office,

When Ian arrived, all the staff stood up and greeted him, "Boss."

In just a few months, Ian had brought about radical changes to the Herald; now, no one in the office disrespected him.

He nodded and headed straight for his office.

As soon as he entered, Ron Lloyd walked in. "The Los Angeles Times has proposed buying our newspaper. They said they can help us with the gamble."

Ian shook his head. "Reject them."

'Did they really think they could just insult me and then try and buy my company?' he thought.

Yet, that was business; sometimes, hurting you might just be a method to negotiate.

So Ian decided to brush it off and simply refused the offer.

Lloyd continued, "Touchstone Pictures wants to give us part of the marketing for Pearl Harbor, but they want to discuss it with you."

Ian smirked. "They think too highly of themselves. Drag it out; the price will only go up. By the way, the Herald needs to expand its news categories, especially in politics and economics."

Lloyd seemed perplexed. "But the Herald isn't primarily focused on political and economic news. I think we should continue concentrating on entertainment; if we overcomplicate things, the audience might not go for it."

Ian understood Lloyd's concerns. Every media outlet had its strengths.

Currently, the Herald was adept at violent and sensational news, and its audience mostly came from the lower tiers of society, not interested in political and economic news. The recent uproar over the Oakland Paints news wasn't because of the Herald but because Ian gave the news freely to competitors, amplifying the effects through them.

Introducing this area would only lead to dissatisfaction among the audience: "You're giving me news I don't want," which equated to wasting my money - they certainly wouldn't view it as a free gift.

Ian insisted, "But we must be involved in this area. While political and economic news might not have a huge audience, its effects are profound."

Lloyd quickly grasped Ian's thoughts, knowing the implications of the short selling. He chuckled, "We can work with other media."

"Other media?" Ian's eyes narrowed slightly.

Maybe it was time to consider some expansion.

He nodded. "Let's hold off for now. I'll figure it out later."

Lloyd added, "By the way, I found that company called Google."

Thank goodness that name hadn't changed.

Since the advantage of being reborn still existed, it was worth leveraging, though due to time-space discrepancies, some businesses might have changed names, and he needed to confirm.

Ian asked, "Have you proposed to invest?"

Lloyd shook his head. "We did, but they declined. They just received a big investment and don't need it for now. However, I've made contact and they'll notify us for their next funding round."

Ian nodded, "Good. Keep a close watch on this. Anything else?"

Lloyd replied, "I'm the editor-in-chief, not your secretary, Boss. I think it's time you got yourself a secretary."

The once clueless Ian, who had just inherited the family business, had wanted a secretary but was dissuaded by Lloyd, who insisted they should focus on keeping the business afloat first.

But now, as he watched Ian rapidly develop the Los Angeles Herald, even the dear old white-haired editor was no longer keen to share the workload of being both editor and secretary.

Ian quickly agreed, "Find someone capable... I mean in skills, not bedroom skills!"

Lloyd muttered, "That's the complete opposite of what you originally asked for. It's like you've been possessed by someone else; you're not the same."

Damn!

Ian instinctively wanted to argue.

Before he could explain, Lloyd burst out laughing, "But I like the results."

Um...

That's true.

Who really cares about your soul? What matters is that the results are good!

*****

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