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Chapter 570 Expanding Upstream in the Media Industry

Ernst did not leave, but instead went to MGM's nearby headquarters on the East Coast.

Once the news data center is completed, this headquarters will move there and work will take place there.

In the conference room, Ernst and Frank Mancuso were chatting.

"I must say, Queens is an amazing place," Frank said, taking a sip of his coffee with a touch of wistfulness.

Ernst stopped stirring his coffee with the silver spoon, gently placed the porcelain cup back on the coaster, looked up at Frank with just the right amount of curiosity, and asked, "What makes you say that?"

"This place is like a miniature version of America, where groups of different races and cultural backgrounds come together, collide, and merge, ultimately forming a highly inclusive and unique community ecosystem."

"In my view, this pluralistic and symbiotic model will become the future development trend of the United States, just like we are conducting experiments in a test field."

He paused briefly, his tone now tinged with disbelief: "A region where white people no longer hold absolute dominance—such a scene would have been unimaginable just over a decade ago."

He was a typical American elite white man who grew up in a purely white community. Although there were Asians and Blacks around him, they were always a minority. The social structure and values ​​of his upbringing were deeply imprinted with the traditional white society.

This long-term living experience shaped his fixed framework of understanding racial composition, and the diverse ecology of Queens undoubtedly had a strong impact on his preconceived notions.

"After being exposed to the multiculturalism of Queens, my thinking has indeed undergone a significant transformation." Frank's tone became increasingly serious. "We've always assumed that media content should be centered on white people's preferences." "Why must it be this way? This might just be our opportunity at MGM."

He put down his coffee cup, his eyes revealing an excitement at discovering a new opportunity: "By accurately grasping the multi-ethnic social characteristics of Queens, we can attract non-white groups that have long been ignored by the mainstream media."

"The potential of this force is probably far greater than we imagine."

Ernst truly hadn't expected that before he even exerted his full strength, his opponent would achieve enlightenment and become an immortal.

Although the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States has been over for decades, the unspoken rules of white supremacy remain deeply entrenched in all levels of society.

This is particularly evident in the media field, where news topics, reporting perspectives, and character portrayals are all centered around the aesthetics and preferences of white people.

Even in corporate recruitment, implicit racial bias has never disappeared.

The core reason why California has become a gathering place for immigrant groups lies in its relatively open and inclusive social atmosphere.

Hollywood's industrial characteristics have attracted a large influx of immigrants, creating a diverse and symbiotic social ecosystem.

Such inclusiveness is rare in other regions. Even in New York, a cosmopolitan metropolis, white supremacist ideology still dominates the social structure.

But Ernst knew that in the future, being Black would be the politically correct thing to do, becoming a core issue that American society could not avoid, and that the voice of minority groups would be greatly enhanced.

He established his companies' offices in Queens, New York, with the intention of actively connecting with and uniting Black and other minority groups. By uniting his Black friends and other minorities, he ensured that his businesses would be in the right position in America.

Of course, this applies to donkeys.

They would hate the elephant even more.

As his thoughts raced, Ernst keenly caught a fleeting hint of probing in Frank's eyes.

He smiled inwardly and immediately understood.

As a traditional, elite white man, Frank expressed these somewhat unconventional views simply to see his reaction.

He is white, he is white, and he has white supremacist thinking now.

"Then you should learn more about it; maybe this will be a breakthrough."

Ernst was reassuring him and allaying his concerns.

Just then, the door was pushed open, and senior executives from MGM's New York branch, along with the core management team of Future News Data Center, walked in together.

Ernst smiled and said, "Let's have a meeting first. You can tell me anytime you have any ideas."

Frank Mancus's expression was somewhat ambiguous, a mixture of surprise, astonishment, and bewilderment. However, he quickly recovered and, after Ernst nodded and everyone was seated, began to chair the meeting.

The brief opening remarks included a report on the progress of the news center and the staffing of the New York branch. Then came the recent work progress: "We have signed letters of intent with three authoritative news agencies—the Associated Press, Reuters, and Bloomberg—and will prioritize purchasing firsthand news materials from these three organizations in the future."

The media can't just buy news and use it as they please.

According to relevant laws and regulations in the United States, mainstream media are strictly prohibited from directly purchasing and publishing complete reports verbatim; they can only purchase basic news materials through legal channels.

For example, if a conflict occurs in the Middle East, MGM cannot directly quote Reuters' finished news reports. It must base its reports on the core factual information provided by Reuters, such as the time of the conflict, the trigger, the number of troops involved, the number of casualties, the battlefield situation, and other objective data, and combine this with its own reporting positioning to form original news content for release.

This is to safeguard the media's right to speak independently, prevent news dissemination from becoming a simple copy of content, and also provide different media with space to express themselves differently based on the same facts.

"When will we be able to officially establish our own news channels?" Ernst sat at the head of the conference table, his gaze fixed on Frank.

Everyone knows that MGM's ultimate goal in building its news data center is to become a news content provider with global influence, like Reuters, rather than a content aggregator like newspapers and television stations.

However, MGM today does not have a global news network like Reuters.

Before establishing their own news network, they could only buy other people's news.

"My initial plan is to complete the penetration of news networks in all major regions of the world within three years."

"Within five years, we will fully establish MGM's independent and controllable global news channels, completely eliminating our dependence on external news procurement." Mancuso's plan is anything but slow; penetrating all major regions of the world in three years is no easy feat.

Taking Asia as an example, to achieve the standard of penetration, it would be necessary to deploy full-time reporters and editors in all cities of a size equivalent to or larger than third-tier cities in China, and establish a regular news gathering mechanism.

To achieve the ultimate goal of completely eliminating external procurement, the coverage of news gathering networks even needs to be extended to county-level administrative regions.

The purpose of the news center is not to broadcast news, but to become a professional news content producer and supplier, thereby selling news.

MGM itself may not need to use news material from county-level areas frequently, but local media outlets have a strong demand for it.

For these local media outlets, purchasing news materials produced by professional agencies and processing and broadcasting them locally is far more cost-effective than hiring reporters and building their own editorial teams.

It can not only significantly reduce labor and operating costs, but also ensure the professionalism and timeliness of news content.

It took Reuters a century to get to where it is today, and it will be very difficult to achieve this goal within five years.

Of course, it's much easier to set up these things now than it is with Reuters.

With the rise of the internet and the arrival of the information age, collecting news has become much easier.

Furthermore, global transportation and security are generally improving, which provides a significant advantage for news gathering.

Unlike Reuters, which, in order to establish news gathering stations in Africa, not only hired special forces but also had to pay protection money to local armed groups, going out to gather news was like an emperor's trip—a constant fear of being stabbed in the back or robbed.

At that time, no Western journalists were willing to work in Africa, so they could only slowly develop local personnel and provide them with extensive training.

Things are different now. As long as you pay them, you can hire journalists in most African cities.

This is MGM's advantage as a latecomer.

Ernst looked at the documents in his hand and sensed something was wrong. "Why are they all from authoritative news agencies? Where are the news lines and business information?"

News acquisition channels in the United States are also differentiated. For example, Reuters and Bloomberg, which Mancuso mentioned, are authoritative communications, and their news categories include breaking news, financial data, international events, and current affairs.

In addition to authoritative communications, there are also business news channels, such as the news service companies and business information companies that Ernst mentioned.

There are also freelance writing channels, such as Independent Journalists Network and Freelance Alliance.

This channel primarily targets news sources from independent journalists, or invites experts in personal development to write commentaries; these are all done through these channels.

There are also entertainment, criminal, and other sub-fields, all focusing on specific areas.

"These matters are mainly focused on domestic news," Mancuso explained. "The news channels that MGM previously established are now sufficient to cover domestic news acquisition."

MGM's previous development in television networks and news was more like Murdoch's News Corporation. It was more about the midstream of the industry chain, directly facing users, and acting as a distribution channel.

They have their own reporters and their own news channels, but for important news and major international events, they still have to purchase information from authoritative communications lines such as Reuters.

Current news data centers tend to be upstream manufacturers. Although they do face users directly, they mainly produce news and sell it to midstream distributors.

The entire news industry is now integrated and directly managed by the news data center.

He knew that Murdoch's News Corporation was preparing to transform itself upstream, from a news channel provider into a news giant covering the entire upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors.

It seems MGM's transformation is progressing quite quickly.

If what Mancuso said is true, MGM will succeed in its plan before News Corporation, seizing a portion of News Corporation's resources.