An Eye for News Chapter 8
The
commercial building was the tallest skysc.r.a.per in County S and was the economic
hub of the county.
The
place was normally congested. However with the hubbub of a possible jumper, the
film car couldn’t even get close to the building.
“Mr
driver, you can put me down here, I’ll call for you when I get the pictures I
need…”
Se
Cai opened the door and leaped into the crowd.
“Goodness,
someone’s jumping. He’s up there on the 33rd floor. He’s yelling
something, can’t you hear?”
“The
police’s up there but he won’t let them get close or he’ll jump!”
“Yes,
I hear the person’s only twenty something. Young kids nowadays sure can’t
handle pressure…”
Chatters
of the crowd sifted into Se Cai’s ears as he cut through the busy street.
“Excuse
me, excuse me…”
The
police had set up a perimeter at the entrance of the building. The public was
not allowed beyond the yellow tape. Se Cai took out his camera and started
snapping pictures.
These
were some of the on-site pictures that Director Bai wanted.
Then,
Se Cai set down his tripod and aimed his camera up at the sky. Unfortunately,
he was too late to realize the view of the camera was blocked by a giant advertis.e.m.e.nt
board. He had to move in closer to the building to get a better view.
Se
Cai lifted the tripod and nudged it further in. He soon found himself right at
the yellow tape.
“Stop
right there, can’t you see the yellow line?”
A
police officer yelled at Se Cai.
“h.e.l.lo,
fellow officer, I’m a reporter from County S Tv Station. Could you please let
me through? I need to cover this news…”
Se Cai
tipped his camera equipment towards the policeman. It was a piece of professional
filming equipment, normally only used by professional reporters. It should be
enough to verify Se Cai’s ident.i.ty.
After
all, all the government departments and media knew of one another in the small
County S. They normally wouldn’t deliberately make things difficult for the
county’s news workers. They had a symbiotic relationship.
“County
S Tv Station? I’m sorry but orders from the County Publicity Department said
that no member of media is allowed through.”
The
policeman scanned Se Cai and replied plainly.
“Couldn’t
you make a kind exception? I promise to not stand in the way. By the way, mr
policeman, what time did the person appeared at the rooftop?”
Se Cai
said smilingly but was furious inside.
It was
the d.a.m.n Publicity Department again!
The
Publicity Department was by name the tv station’s superior but oftentimes for
the sake of ‘maintaining good public conduct’ would suppress and limit the
station’s news reporting.
Especially
when it came to big cases like these, their policy was to do as little as possible
to avoid possible missteps, to wait for the fever of the event to pa.s.s and only
then record it with a simple report. This was to decrease public awareness on
issues which would in turn lower the government’s workload. Plus, it ensured
that these official’s names won’t be brought up should things go awry.
Unlike
these government appointees,
registering public opinion so Se Cai couldn’t just shrug it off.
“I’m
sorry but I can’t give any comments. If you need a public statement, please
refer to my colleagues from media management. My only responsibility is to
guard this line.”
The
policeman said with a warning.
Se Cai
glanced at the badge on the policeman’s shoulder. It only had the 2 crooked
lines, obviously a new officer.
“Well…
who is your superior? Let me talk to him.”
Se Cai
knew this policeman wasn’t going to let him through so he had to try his luck
elsewhere.
Time
was incredibly precious at events like these. Every second was important.
After
all, Se Cai had been at his post for almost a year. Maybe he would happen to
know his superior.
“Deputy
Bureau Director Wong is up there negotiating with the jumper. He doesn’t have the
time to entertain you.”
The
policeman replied coldly, not at all willing to budge from his stance.
“Does
this policeman have some personal vendetta against the media…?”
Society
beat reporters typically have good rapport with law enforcement because they work
alongside each other. Their work often overlaps.
Regretfully,
Se Cai was still too new at his job to be able to call special contacts that
would help him grease the right wheels.
Se Cai
sighed deeply and quickly pulled from his pocket his cellphone. He had no
choice but to try his luck with his contacts down at the police bureau.
His
contacts were the media management people the policeman mentioned. They were
responsible for releasing media statement, holding press conference, dictating
press release and so forth. In other words, they were the bureau’s media handlers.
Therefore, these people had constant contact with the tv station.
Se Cai
hoped he could get something good out of his contacts.
Se Cai though
was caught in total shock when he looked at his phone.
He had
forgotten to charge it the night before because he was too tired!
Now how
was he going to find help?
“F*ck!
I’m running out of time. I have to get up there or I’ll miss the news!”
Se Cai
screamed internally.
The
system told him that earning News Point was not only dependent on his piece getting
on the lead news, but also it needed to garner a sizeable public response.
Granted
the report on the jumper had newsworthiness but what were a few pictures of the
sidewalk, building and the crowd going to amount to? Without a shot of the
actual scene, his piece might not even get on the program, much less the lead
news!
Right
then, a cap-wearing muscular teen and a woman in a white suit ran over.
The
teen was lugging along a camera and the woman had in her hand a wireless
microphone and had on a media badge.
The
pair rushed hastily towards the entrance.
“Hey
there, please step behind the line…”
The
policeman stepped forth to stop them but he froze on the spot when he noticed
the inspector who wore a white uniform trailing behind them.
Almost
instantly, his stern expression melted into a fawning smile. He pulled the line
up to allow the trio to go through.
“White
uniform?”
Se Cai
thought to himself. An officer had to at
least be a Cla.s.s 3 Commissioner to be able to wear a white uniform.
Such
high ranking officers were rare in Province City Z much less County S.
According
to his memory, there was no one in County S law enforcement that was high-ranking
enough to wear a white uniform… except the newly transferred County Politics
and Legislative Commissioner!
The new
commissioner who was also the police bureau’s director had the surname Xie.
Because he had to handle many responsibilities, management of the police bureau
normally fell on the shoulders of Deputy Bureau Director Wong, the person whom
the policeman said was in negotiation with the jumper.
Spotting
this opportunity, Se Cai came forth to accost the commissioner, “Nice to meet you,
commissioner. I’m Se Cai, a reporter from County S Tv Station. I would like to
ask for permission to enter the scene to report on the news…”
“County
S Tv Station?”
The
commissioner frowned, he said impatiently, “the 2 person I was with are from
Province X Tv Station. They happened to be giving me an interview when this happened.
In any case, for a scene as delicate as this, the fewer media there is, the
better. We don’t need you here.”
With
that, he turned and left.
The
policeman threw him a snide smile, “You heard our Commissioner Xie. Now get
lost!”
Se Cai
retreated with a sigh.
After
all, the reporter from the province station came with the accompaniment of the
commissioner. He? He was just a n.o.body.
He knew
that to be the reality of life but it still irked him to no end.