"Absolute Truth" was the Game Church's magazine. However, it was likely that not many people in Vila Nova Dônia still remembered its original identity. It was just like a certain city's signature daily newspaper. Nobody would pay attention to where it was published.
People habitually purchased it, habitually obtained the latest information from it, and habitually believed that it was true. Private and commercial media outlets were even more official than the official media outlets.
After defeating many competitors, this was the only weekly that sold more than 200,000 copies. Considering that most people in the new city of Seymour had the habit of reading and listening to the news, it actually affected nearly one million people. More than half of Vila Nova Dônia was affected by it.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that millions of people were influential. Even in Jiaocheng, it was a custom to hire professional newspaper readers to read newspapers in taverns and teahouses to attract customers. In that case, the final influence of a newspaper could reach close to a hundred people.
Ever since Rorschach received this laughable magazine that only sold a few dozen copies, he had always treated this outdated paper media as a matter of life and death.
That was because he had experienced the era of media back on Earth. He deeply understood the power of public opinion and the media. When necessary, selective reporting was a type of soft violence that could defeat thousands of soldiers with a single word.
Absolute Truth didn't mean that it didn't have a standpoint. A news report that didn't have a standpoint would never exist in the first place. Even from the perspective of public welfare and environmental protection, there was the natural standpoint of humans and nature.
Words were meant to express one's inner thoughts. Since thoughts were subjective, how could they not be influenced by others?
"… Vila Nova Dônia's joint development of an uninhabited area was met with difficulties. In the end, they had no choice but to give up on the development."
There were no problems with this report. It was in the usual style of "Absolute Truth". The narration was simple and direct. It explained the ins and outs of the situation in a straightforward manner. It also explained how they learned through "certain methods" that their opponents had ill intentions and ultimately chose to give up on the development.
Apart from the slightly negative headline, the narration was quite strict and objective. It was biased towards describing the difficulties of the exploration. This would also give the newcomers a better idea of what to expect.
The Eagle's Crown's reviewers looked over the report several times. They couldn't find any problems with it, so they felt reassured and allowed "Absolute Truth" to publish it.
However, something still happened.
"… The top five directors of the 20-person board of directors have been discussing behind closed doors for the entire night. They have decided to withdraw their investment overnight."
"The Titan incident has been proven to be a rumor. The estimated value of the no man's land has been greatly reduced. The top five churches have decided to cancel their Vila Nova Dônia branch."
"Winterfell's diplomatic environment is getting worse. The top three Cape Town candidates are hostile to outsiders. No matter who comes to power, it is likely to trigger a new round of racial conflicts and disputes. "
"Frequent train accidents, a deficit for three months in a row since the company officially started operations, and the workers' salaries from a year ago have not been paid in full. External investors have raised doubts about the trust level of the United Railway Lines and requested that they announce this year's financial report in advance."
Since a week ago, all kinds of bad news had been spreading like an avalanche.
Some were reported by big newspapers and tabloids, some were spread through the streets and alleys, and some came from Cape Town.
Some were true, some were false, and some were half true and half false. All sorts of bad news erupted in a short period of time.
Everyone was in a state of panic. Just as they were about to seek confirmation from the government, the issue of "Absolute Truth" happened to be published. It sold like hotcakes and broke the previous record of 230,000 copies, reaching a terrifying figure of 300,000 copies.
In the end, not only did the government fail to reassure the people, but there was also a report about the huge setback of the United Railway Lines.
This kind of negative report seemed to validate the previous news of "withdrawing their investment" and "running away from the United Railway Lines". It was like the third tiger in a tiger's den, and the news came from the most trustworthy channel. The public opinion exploded instantly.
There was no problem with the report itself. The problem was the timing of its publication. It was too coincidental, too coincidental.
At that time, the United Railway Lines realized that something was wrong and urgently called for Chief Editor Rorschach. However, after completing the first draft of the journal, he first returned to Aishi, then returned to Earth to settle some visa and inheritance matters. There was no way to get him back.
As for the other people in the editorial department, they didn't have enough influence. Without Rorschach's special signature to guarantee the authenticity of the report, casually coming up with a doubtful article to refute the rumors would only increase the distrust of the people towards the United Railway Lines.
If they forced the Game Church to fake their signature and fake news … Let's not even talk about whether the Game Church was willing to destroy the reputation that they had worked so hard to build for so many years. Once this news mysteriously leaked out, it would be a truly destructive blow.
In the midst of the storm, the "official media" quickly went silent after spewing out negative news. This was ten times, no, a hundred times worse than not saying anything at all.
For a moment, the public opinion was in an uproar. Many small and medium Churches even began to withdraw their shares to seek peace and safety. Outside the United Railway Lines, people were closely watching them, afraid that they would cause trouble.
If there was an Earthling here, he could probably use a word to describe the current situation that everyone was in a state of panic and fear — Short selling!
That's right, short selling. This was the most commonly used method of manipulating public opinion. Short selling was a series of negative news bombs that made the people of Vila Nova Dônia uneasy. It was as if the flourishing scenes of the previous month were all fake.
This exposed one of the hidden dangers of Vila Nova Dônia. They were an allied city led by the Churches. Although they were open to business, the Churches cared more about strength than reputation. They didn't pay much attention to public opinion, which led to the Game Church and Absolute Reality's unlimited expansion in this area.
Without competitors, their expansion was unstoppable. Informants, information traffickers, tabloid reporters and part-time reporters were all in the hands of the only media giant, the Game Church. If an information war really broke out, it would be impossible for the Church to track them down.
In order to prevent information from being leaked, all information operations were done by the Descenders directly under the Game Church's higher-ups.
Now, in order to reverse this increasingly frightening public opinion atmosphere and calm the hearts of the people, the Churches first thought of relying on and asking for help was still the Game Church … This was very, very amusing.
What was even more laughable than a thief crying "stop the thief" was spending large amounts of money to hire rumor-mongers to refute the rumors. Even if someone already noticed that something was wrong, they still had to persuade the rumor-mongers nicely.
Rorschach wasn't here, so of course he wasn't here. If he was, wouldn't problems arise as soon as he asked?
And since he wasn't here, the Game Church also "happened to lack" the most crucial method to refute the rumors.
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