America 1982-Chapter 392 - 46: It’s Up to You
Wolfe didn’t find time to return Tommy’s call in the afternoon because he was simply too busy to bother with such a minor matter.
Agence France-Presse, EFE, ANSA, Canadian Press, European News Exchange, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Reuters, Jiji Press, and so on—when these overseas news agencies and regional wire services discovered that VOX had exclusive information on the latest conflict, they immediately called VOX’s Washington headquarters and subscribed to VOX in the name of their companies.
It wasn’t that VOX just took the money and didn’t have to do anything, merely telling the other side to watch their own news channel; it needed to prepare some materials as much as possible according to the angles proposed by the other side. For example, all news agencies would specifically point out that they hoped to obtain some exclusive photos or materials that no other news agency had.
Subscription contracts also needed to be individually drafted according to each news agency’s differences.
Some news agencies even wished to have a serious exchange about cooperation methods with the president. In short, it seemed like Wolfe had to be present and cope with everything, which left him feeling utterly overstretched.
The feeling of being overstretched because of dealing with countless large news agency chiefs he never had a chance to contact before was something Wolfe truly relished.
He stayed busy until late at night when he finally found the time to appease his grumbling stomach. He bought two hamburgers from a nearby fast-food restaurant; then, he sat on a bench outside VOX headquarters, placed his briefcase on the empty spot next to him, and began eating voraciously.
"The taste of happiness and satisfaction, right?" A voice sounded not far away, catching Wolfe’s attention. He looked up to see Earl Rash, the CEO of BT Television, walking out of VOX headquarters with a smile.
Wolfe swallowed the food in his mouth and spoke with some surprise, "Er? What brings you here?"
"I came to Washington for a television industry conference. After the dinner ended, I wanted to come and congratulate you, but... considering you must be very busy today, I didn’t want to disturb you. I’ve been sitting in the lobby until now. And one more thing—VOX’s coffee tastes better than BT’s coffee." Er strolled over, with a cigarette in his mouth, and sat next to Wolfe:
"The feeling of being able to stuff one’s mouth full of food when hungry is quite nice."
Wolfe picked up the hamburger box beside him, took out another hamburger from inside, and handed it to Er, "I happened to buy an extra one."
Er tossed away his cigarette, took the hamburger, and the two middle-aged men, with the same dark skin, sat on the bench in the dead of night, silently devouring their hamburgers, wolfing them down greedily.
Not until the hamburgers were all eaten did Er wipe his fingers with a napkin and let out a contented sigh, "I haven’t congratulated you yet. Although it was an industry conference for free television networks, at tonight’s dinner, many people were not interested in discussing free network topics; instead, they mentioned VOX several times. The industry knows that this time, you probably gained at least ten million new subscribers."
"To be honest, before I left the company, I went to the restroom to splash my face with cold water, and I couldn’t help silently thanking Gaddafi. No one thought that after seeing the American carrier fleet, he would dare to send two fighter jets to intercept. Our reporters on the Kennedy said the fleet’s officers all felt it was unexpected," Wolfe said as he wiped the corners of his mouth, then carefully discarded the napkin back into the box and the box along with the paper bag into the trash can before sitting back down with a smile:
"Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters... Even though I personally prepared and established VOX, I never imagined that one day the world’s three major news agencies would become our corporate subscribers. They want to use the news materials we provide; it’s like a dream. Ever since television was invented, there has never been an incident where a news agency specifically subscribes to a TV channel to get news."
Er looked into the distance, his face bearing a smile, "That means you’re a genius."
"No, Tommy is the genius. BT Television, VOX Television, it was all his idea. Actually, when he first hoped to scatter our reporters across the world map like dandelion seeds, I was against it. After all, the personnel costs are too high, and for this, we argued twice. But now it looks like he was right. Without his persistence, it wouldn’t have been possible to have our reporter right on the Kennedy," Wolfe said happily:
"By the way, do me a favor, Er."
"FOX?" Er seemed to guess what Wolfe was about to say.
Wolfe nodded, "Yes, mock FOX mercilessly. Dammit, they mock our hosts and reporters on their own programs every day. You need to help me vent."
"Of course, I promise that tomorrow’s ’Today’s Black News’ will have a sufficiently sharp and cutting retort. But... Wolfe... I didn’t come here solely to eat your hamburger, to congratulate you," Er placed his hand on Wolfe’s shoulder:
"I received a piece of news."
"What news?" Wolfe turned to look at Er, "The free television network’s industry protocols don’t really affect cable networks."
"Tommy has found a group of people, preparing to replace you." Er’s smile gradually faded, his gaze became penetrating as he stared at Wolfe, "VOX is different from BT; he can’t hand over a company that could potentially be influential worldwide to a black person. He’s a member of the Fraternity, he’s a white supremacist."
Wolfe stared at Er for a few seconds, then he snapped back to reality, "Tommy called this afternoon to have me call him back once I’m done, to get ready to be choked by our dream again."
