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 relations.h.i.+p.

                “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, depended on reporting and 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.