Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

James Wells, editor-in-chief of the Daily News, was invited to Ronald's apartment on Fifth Avenue.Ed Bastian, who chaired the covert takeover team, was by his side.

"James, I'm sorry to invite you here. You have heard about the wiretapping incident I suffered recently. I must strengthen security measures." Seeing that James Wells did not mean to be unhappy, Ronald continued, " I heard that you have a matter that you cannot decide, and you want to hear my opinion?"

"Let me speak my mind honestly, Mr. Lee.

You are the best candidate for the Daily News. During this period of time, your support for the newspaper, your respect for the news editorial team, and Mr. Bastian's professional support are all admired by people of insight in our newspaper.Editors and reporters would love to have a boss like you. "

Ronald looked at Ed Bastian.It means how did you disclose the acquisition to Mr. Editor-in-Chief.

"Ronald, Mr. James Wells is a journalist with the virtues of traditional American media. He is the type of person that our society lacks, the type that can win a Pulitzer Prize.

He said this out of respect for you. After all, your donation actually supports the operation of the Daily News.

Traditionally, on particularly difficult issues, editors needed the approval of everyone at the newspaper.Just like during the Watergate incident, those two reporters also got the support of Mrs. Graham, the owner of the Washington Post, before they dared to release the exclusive report.

Now you are effectively the boss of the Daily News, so Mr. Wells needed your help to say that. "

Ronald understood what Ed Bastian meant.This is not because his acquisition plan was leaked, but because the newspaper editorial department encountered something difficult to decide and wanted to get a promise of support.

Ronald looked at James Wells, "My support for the Daily News is entirely out of not wanting such a historic newspaper to disappear, and it is also a respect for your editorial department. Although I am not the actual Undertaker, but if you need any help from me, please let me know."

Usually, what newspaper reporters want to write is protected by the First Amendment.There are two sources that can put them under pressure, one is high-level power and the other is capital.

Although it reports what is protected, the newspaper cannot withstand repeated investigations by high-level investigative agencies, and big capital boycotts the newspaper's advertising.

The problem encountered by the Daily News this time comes from a very sensitive political issue.

At the beginning of the year, the mayoral election in New York also officially kicked off.The popular candidate for the Donkey Party is the Mayor of Manhattan, the black politician Dinkins, and the former Attorney General Rudy for the Southern District of Manhattan represents the Elephant Party.

And today, the primary elections of the two parties have entered a heated stage. The two leading candidates in the primary election have both found the editorial department of the Daily News and want them to endorse themselves.

"Daily News, I remember that they always support the conservative Elephant Party candidates?"

Ronald's limited political knowledge made him not understand James Wells' difficulties. What's there to be afraid of?It's good to support the elephant party as before, and the donkey party can't say anything.

"The problem is that in this year's election, neither candidate is a traditionally bipartisan candidate compared to previous years."

James Wells poured out bitter water.

From Rudy's point of view, although his supporters are the basic party of the Elephant Party, Staten Island, Queens, Long Island, and some people in Manhattan, but as of today, Rudy has not officially participated in any election campaign. , Said he was running on behalf of the Elephant Party.

And Dingkins is also different from ordinary donkey party candidates. He is facing the traditional donkey party tycoon Koch who has been mayor for three terms. More than 50% of the polls suppressed the current mayor Koch and the current governor Cuomo.

Both sides have traditional media supporters.According to tradition, the New York Post supports the Elephant Party, and the New York Times supports the Donkey Party, and the two newspapers have a large circulation, but their influence in the country is not as good as the first two newspapers, the Daily News, and the News Daily. Taihe binds the two parties, and decides which side to support according to the candidates in each election.

The circulation of News Daily is mainly concentrated in Brooklyn and the Bronx in northern Manhattan, where many blacks are natural supporters of Dinkins, so there is a high probability that they will endorse Dinkins this year.

The main distribution channels of the Daily News are Staten Island, southern Manhattan, and Queens. They should have supported Rudy, but because Rudy did not take an unusual path, they were in a difficult situation.

Ronald understood that the editorial board was actually afraid of endorsing the wrong candidate and would be suppressed in various ways after the new mayor took office.If there could be a tall man like Ronald to come forward, then the grievances would be answered, and the grievances would not be spread on the heads of newspaper reporters.

"According to tradition, issues related to elections have to be decided by the organizers of the newspaper. The editorial department has already confided to you that if you can help them shelter from the wind and rain this time, then it will be less difficult for us to acquire the overall assets of the newspaper. a lot of."

After seeing off James Wells, Ed Bastian gave Ronald his opinion.

"I still don't quite understand why Rudy doesn't want to talk about his Elephant Party?"

"Because he wants to abandon the Conservative Party and run jointly with the Liberal Party." Ed revealed the secret.

……

"There's no way Rudy could unite with the Conservatives, sorry Mr Lee."

Afterwards, Ronald called Rudy.Rudy sent someone from the campaign team to contact him.

"You know, the main scope of distribution of the Daily News is the traditional sphere of influence of the Elephant Party. People here, as long as Rudy comes out and says that he represents the Elephant Party, they will vote for him. In this way, the newspaper's endorsement of him is also It's just a matter of course."

"Hey, I just brought the election materials of the Conservative Party candidate, Billionaire Lawton, you can see for yourself."

Ronald took the materials from Rudy's campaign manager.

There are also reasons why Rudy did not unite with the Conservative Party in accordance with tradition.The Conservative Party is even more right-leaning than the Elephant Party. They don't like Rudy's ideas on abortion rights, gun bans, affirmative action, and the elimination of discrimination against minority groups, etc., so they simply launched their own candidates.

"Where do these people come from? Why are they more conservative and stubborn than those evangelical XX in the south?"

Ronald can understand the Conservative Party's opposition to women's abortion rights, gun bans, and equal rights, but the last item on the leaflet is really unbearable.

Lawton, the Conservative Party candidate, is actually proposing to restore Bible and prayer lessons in public schools.

The founding of America adopted the principle of separating church and state. Except for some church schools that still retain Bible study and prayer classes, ordinary public high schools are not allowed to force students to do these things.As soon as this kind of proposition comes out, and in New York, where the atmosphere is open and free, any candidate will essentially give up the election.

"So, can you understand Rudy?" The campaign manager was also very helpless. New York has always been a strong donkey and a weak one. If the candidate of the Elephant Party does not unite with a small party, it is impossible to compete with the Donkey Party.

With a policy that would clearly be opposed by voters in Brooklyn and Manhattan, two of the most populous boroughs, Rudy couldn't coalesce with the conservatives.

As for the Conservative Party, they don't want to win the mayoral election, they just want to keep their basic base, but this may spoil the overall situation.

"These people seem to be living in the 19th century..."

Ronald shook his head, "Then, can Rudy publicly show that he is the candidate of the Elephant Party?"

"I'm afraid that won't work either. If voters of the Liberal Party only vote based on Rudy's political views, we still have the strength to compete with candidates from the Donkey Party. However, the Liberal Party does not like the Elephant Party. If we use the banner of the Elephant Party, then we have no chance of winning. .”

It is still a simple math problem. If a party candidate wants to win, he must unite with a small party.The Conservative Party is too extreme, and the Liberal Party is unwilling to vote for a candidate with an (R) after their name on the ballot paper (R stands for Elephant Party).

"I'm sorry, sir. I support Rudy personally, but a newspaper is a newspaper, and I have a responsibility to my subscribers. They cannot accept the Daily News' endorsement of a candidate who is allied with the Liberal Party and dare not say his R. .”

Ronald's hands and feet were also tied.Buying newspapers by myself is for the influence among subscribers and readers, and it is impossible to lose the fundamentals because of supporting Rudy.

"Of course, Rudy will understand..." The campaign manager expected such a result. This is a strategy that Rudy's team came up with after precise calculations, blurring their positions to win the votes of the middle voters.

"Then, on Staten Island..." The campaign manager came this time, and more importantly, he obtained Ronald's commitment to the conservative vote on Staten Island...

"Staten Island voters will definitely support a candidate who is a prosecutor like Rudy. We all have a good impression of this candidate who is heavy handed to rectify security and order, and investigates Wall Street predators and the five major families in Manhattan."

The campaign manager shook Ronald's hand and was satisfied with his reaffirmation of his full support for Rudy on Staten Island.

……

"Mr. Dinkins, would like to know your opinion on the Central Park attack."

When the campaign manager from Dinkins' side came to visit, Ronald choked at the beginning.

They are very confident in their victory, so they didn't come up to ask Dingkins what to do to get the endorsement of the Daily News, but to first examine the personal opinion of Ronald, who is said to be the next owner of the Daily News .

"Huh?" Ronald frowned.I am also a victim of the violent attack in Central Park. You come to ask my opinion, what do you mean?
"What does Mr. Dinkins mean?"

"Mr. Dingkins believes that the five black and Latino boys were tortured and tortured. The so-called confession is just taking advantage of their absence of a lawyer and using various intimidation methods to force these boys to confess crimes they did not commit. That's all.

Mr Dinkins will work to appeal and help the five boys get their freedom. "

"Is this Dingkins' condition?" Ronald frowned even deeper.Among the five people, there was a black man who attacked himself and Helen. If he hadn't run fast, he might have been the one who made the news.

Admitting to a crime you didn't commit?What is this saying?In Ronald's view, these little cubs didn't obey the law and had little respect for social order. They belonged to the typical blacks raised in the slums.

Single-parent families worship criminals rather than the police, tend to be violent, and regard robbery and trafficking as a job.

Even if there is no evidence to convict them of attacking and intending to murder the woman jogging in Central Park, the bad things they have done can actually be convicted of the crimes now sentenced by the court.

Of course, under the legal system of the jury system, such words can only be said by oneself, and cannot be announced to the public, which is not in line with the values ​​of America.

"We already have the support of the New York Times and the News Daily. We will publicly endorse Mr. Dingkins as soon as the primary election is over. Facing the reports of this case, make an assessment.”

Dingkins' campaign manager walked away proudly.

He has the confidence and confidence.In the party's primary election, facing the three-term Mayor Koch, Dinkins still has a lead of more than 10%.

His personal charisma and the campaign strategy he adopted made him hopeful to become the largest city on the East Coast and the first black mayor in New York history.

Dingkins has a very good chance of winning in the party's primary election, first of all because he has the support of natural black votes.Among black voters in the Bronx, he has more than 90 percent support.

Therefore, he had to use the Central Park case to speak out on a large scale for the five black and Latino suspects involved. Every time he went to a campaign site, Dingkins talked about the five boys because of their black skin. been treated unfairly.

How many years have passed, and black people will still be stopped by white policemen on the street for no reason when driving, and they will be stopped for questioning when they walk to white neighborhoods.

And among white voters?Dinkins also has about a third of the support.These people are mainly due to dissatisfaction with Koch and support for Dinkins' seemingly middle ground.

Koch, who has been re-elected as mayor for three terms, is not as powerful as before.He himself is also deeply involved in scandals. Being single, he has aroused many discussions in the media, especially News Daily, about whether he has a special orientation and likes men.

Most voters don't discriminate against people of these orientations, but they don't want their mayor to be one of them either.

In addition, Dingkins knew that his weakness was the high crime rate in the black community, which caused the overall sense of safety in Manhattan to decline.

So he is also preaching that he will be a tough mayor who will crack down on illegal drugs and vicious crime.He proposed that New York should be built into a kaleidoscope, where citizens of all ethnic groups would live together and learn from each other's strengths to achieve common security and harmony.

One-third of the white support rate does not seem high, but it is already double the vote rate of the black pastor and civil rights activist Jesse Jackson in New York in the last general election. above.

Everyone was very optimistic about him, so the black manager of the campaign team was a little disrespectful to the future boss of the Daily News.Anyway, they have already received the support of two important media news dailies in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Ronald's support is a bit like yours, not yours.

……

When it comes to political issues, Ronald has always discussed with Douglas Jr.

This time Douglas Jr. also arrived on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. After listening to all the explanations, he asked, "So what's your decision?"

"I'm thinking, we don't necessarily need to express our support for any of the candidates." Ronald tapped a rhythm on the table with his fingers.

"Selecting a candidate means choosing a camp. All future reports need to be adjusted according to the position. Instead of this, what if we stand on a neutral position? At that time, the four major newspapers in New York will only have the Daily News The news can use a more neutral position to report real information..."

"This is a good idea. It happens to be the time of the election and the time when we won the all-media platform of the Daily News. It happens to be a breakthrough for the new owner..." Little Douglas also thinks this is just right, and there will be no Daily News by then. The news is more objective. Wouldn't readers and subscribers take advantage of the popularity?

"So, I need understanding from the top..." Ronald did not take a side, and he would take corresponding risks. The media that neither side relied on, no matter which candidate came to power, they would all be under pressure.

"I'll call George Jr." Douglas Jr. nodded.

"Your media, don't you want to endorse Rudy?" George Jr. thought that what Doug Jr. and Ronald Jr. were talking about was the small newspaper they controlled on Staten Island. "

"Yeah, Rudy is going to run jointly with the Liberal Party, and in his campaign materials, there is no red, no elephant, and no capital letter R. Our newspapers are read by die-hard supporters of the Elephant Party .”

"You are absolutely right. I will call the National Committee of the Elephant Party. Rudy is going too far. The platform of the Elephant Party should only be open to those who are willing to pay loyalty to the Elephant Party. I don't think there will be anything Problem." Little George felt that Ronald was right after hearing this reason.

Staten Island was the only New York constituency that supported his father in the last general election. If there were more friends like this in New York, maybe his father would be able to win New York State.

With the understanding of the senior leaders of the Elephant Party, Ronald decided that he and Douglas Jr. controlled the Stanton Advance and the New York Daily News to only report neutrally in this local election and not endorse any candidate. .

……

"Ronald, are you in New York? How did I hear that you were in New York from the Elephants?"

After dealing with this matter, Ronald stayed in New York for two more days to meet Helen.Just as he was about to return to Los Angeles, an acquaintance called him again.

"Bannon, are you in New York too? I'm just going back to Los Angeles."

"Wait, wait, can you postpone it for a day? I just need your help."