American Gossip King

Chapter 50 Economic News is Also News

Just as Catherine had predicted, another news story broke the next day.

A new paint developed by an Auckland paint company was found to have excessive formaldehyde levels, but the company concealed the test results and attempted to bribe officials to continue pushing the product onto the market.

This made the problem serious; the market was instantly in an uproar, and the paint company's stock price plummeted.

A day later, new news emerged, this time about Linuo Bank expressing distrust of Auckland Paint Company and pressing for repayment.

All of these reports were first published by the Los Angeles Herald, and then followed up by other media outlets—Ian gave them to them for free this time, since what was needed this time was influence, not the price of the news itself.

Following a series of news reports, the stock price of Auckland Paints continued to fall.

To Ian's dismay, this economic news did nothing to improve his understanding of the world.

But on the other hand, the left eye's abilities have improved... not in terms of experience points, but in terms of overall capabilities!

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Gunshots rang out continuously at the shooting range.

Ian ran through the obstacle course with his gun, firing at the targets that kept appearing. His bullets accurately hit the "bandits" between the eyebrows. After running out of bullets, he quickly reloaded and continued firing until all the targets were eliminated.

"Well done, Mr. Carl," the shooting instructor nearby called out excitedly. "One minute and twelve seconds. 96 rings in stationary shooting, 83 rings in moving shooting. Hit the hostage twice, and was hit once. You were a little impatient, but it's alright, you're not a hostage rescuer anyway."

"Reporters can save lives too. They can carry a camera in their right hand and fire a gun in their left," Ian replied.

Ian casually put down the gun and sat back down in the lounge area to drink his beverage.

Confirmed, the left eye's marksmanship has improved.

Not only his marksmanship, but also his electrical and lock-picking skills have improved, and he seems to be getting the feeling of unlocking a fourth copy... At the normal pace, he can only get three copies after his left eye reaches the maximum level.

This finally made Ian understand.

The right eye levels up through violent news, the left eye levels up through gossip and pornography... Leveling up itself can bring about an increase in abilities, but there is an upper limit. Once you level up, you will gain new abilities, and the effects of old abilities will not improve with each level up.

However, economic news can continue to enhance the abilities of the left eye, and can even break through the limits of those abilities!

By the same token, further enhancement of the right eye's abilities could very likely be achieved through political news.

So, politics is linked to violence, and pornography is linked to the economy?

That makes perfect sense!

This is why the news about the bet with the client that I released last time led to the early appearance of the third replication ability, because that also falls under the category of economic news.

So, will your own media outlets be involved in political and economic reporting in the future?

………………

Los Angeles Herald newspaper.

When Ian arrived at the newspaper office, everyone stood up and greeted him: "Boss."

In just a few months, Ian brought about a dramatic transformation to the Herald, and now everyone in the newspaper, from top to bottom, respects him.

Ian nodded and walked straight to his office.

As soon as I entered the office, Ron Lloyd walked in: "The Los Angeles Times has offered to acquire our newspaper business. They say they can help us fulfill our performance commitments."

Ian shook his head: "Reject them."

You guys just insulted me, and now you want to buy my company?

But that's what business is all about!

Suppressing you might just be a way to get you to cooperate.

This would be quite rare in China; the bosses would likely yell, "You bastard, if you mess with me like this, I'd rather die than sell to you!"

In the United States, most business owners' reaction is: "You messed with me, at least give me some extra money."

So Ian didn't bother with it and simply refused.

Lloyd continued, "Touchstone Pictures wants to give us a portion of the Pearl Harbor publicity, but they said they need to talk to you first."

Ian sneered, "They're still putting on airs. If they drag it out, the price will be even higher later. By the way, the Herald needs to expand its news categories, especially its political and economic sections."

Lloyd was speechless: "The Herald is not primarily focused on politics and economics. I think we should focus on entertainment for now. If it's too complicated, users may not buy it."

Ian understood Lloyd's point; every media outlet has its own strengths.

The current news outlet, First Report, excels at sensationalism and gossip. Their users are mostly from the lower classes and are not interested in political and economic news. The reason why the news about Okra Coatings caused such a stir this time is not because of First Report, but because Ian gave the news to his peers for free, amplifying the effect through them.

Opening up this kind of section will only make users dissatisfied: if you give me news that I don't want, it's like I've wasted my money, and they won't consider it a freebie.

Ian said, "But we have to be involved. Political and economic news may not have a large audience, but its impact is far-reaching."

Lloyd knew about Ian's short selling and immediately understood. He laughed and said, "It can be done through other media."

The latest novel is first published here!

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

Perhaps it's time to consider expansion.

He nodded: "Then we won't activate it for now. I'll figure out a way to handle it later."

Lloyd said, "Oh, right, there's one more thing. We found that company called Google."

Thank goodness the company didn't change its name.

Since the advantages of rebirth still exist, we should take advantage of them. However, due to differences in time and space, some companies may have changed their names, and it will take time to confirm.

Ian asked, "Have you offered to take a stake?"

Editor-in-Chief Lloyd shook his head: "We did mention it, but they declined. They recently received an investment and don't need it for the time being. However, I've contacted them, and they'll let us know about the next round of financing."

Ian nodded. "Okay. Remember to keep a close eye on this. Anything else?"

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

The former rich kid Ian wanted to appoint a secretary for himself as soon as he inherited the family business, but Lloyd persuaded him not to. He said, "Let's focus on surviving this small, run-down company first. What's the point of having a secretary?"

But now that he has witnessed Ian rapidly grow the Los Angeles Herald, the dear white-haired editor-in-chief no longer wants to work as a secretary.

Ian readily nodded: "Find someone capable... I mean capable, not just someone for bed!"

Lloyd muttered, "This is the complete opposite of what you asked for. It's like you've been possessed by someone; you're not yourself anymore."

Fake!

Ian instinctively wanted to make excuses.

Before he could explain, Lloyd laughed and said, "But I like the result."

Uh……

Also.

Who the hell cares about your soul?

The important thing is that the result is good!

(End of this chapter)