The conference room on the second floor of the New Testament Evening News.
Sean Dickinson walked in and looked up at the employees in the conference room——
The reporters in the editorial department were sitting together with the team leader Vincent. They were still telling jokes before, but they immediately stopped talking when the new president came in, with an unfriendly smile on their face.
The director and deputy director of the Printing and Marketing Department are a man and a woman. They are exactly the same weight and height, like a couple from a cartoon. Seeing Sean come in, the two of them widened their eyes, as if they were dissatisfied with the whole meeting. After all, their department was only responsible for work, and meetings were a waste of time.
The head of the advertising department pushed up his glasses. He looked bad, with deep dark circles and bags under his eyes. His entire portrait was only in three tones: black, white and gray. He yawned blearily, obviously lacking in energy.
The accountant lady blinked her big eyes, but her mind seemed to have left the conference room.
Editor-in-Chief Steve Ryan sat across from the long table, with ashtrays and coffee cups set out in front of him. He was sitting so leisurely, as if he were at home.
Sean's original plan was to ask the employees to take a break and hold the meeting again tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
But when he saw today's "New Testament Evening News", he felt that he could no longer delay——
He didn't allow the newspaper he controlled to be like this, not even for a second.
There was no choice but to have a meeting.
With a slight cough, the aura of a strong soul naturally spread out, and everyone in the conference room involuntarily sat upright.
The editor-in-chief frowned and put out his cigarette with some discomfort. He couldn't understand why he had some instinctive awe for this young man. He coughed slightly to get rid of the awkward feeling.
After confirming that everyone's eyes were focused on him, Sean raised the newspaper in his hand - it was the "New Testament Evening News" that had not been printed today.
Without saying anything, he placed the evening newspaper in front of John who was sitting next to him: "John, read today's headlines."
"Okay, Mr. Dickinson." John cleared his throat narrowly, ""Blanken Hall Ball," reporter, Tom Ackerson..."
"Shortly after the New Year's Ball, Blanken Manor once again held a wonderful ball to celebrate the visit of St. Chris, one of the Six Saints..."
"Okay, John." Sean interrupted John's reading, "Have you read this report, I want to ask you..." Sean did not look at John, but looked straight ahead, looking at The core people in the editorial department asked, "What is written in this report?"
"Uh..." John looked away from the newspaper in his hand, "It wrote about, uh, the dresses of the ladies at the ball. It criticized the eldest lady of the Rios family for wearing the same dress as the Christmas ball the year before, and also wrote about the new dress. The food that Lord John Leland likes, and the New Testament finance minister’s eccentricities when dining..."
"Well, that's almost it. That's indeed it." Sean nodded and continued to ask, "John, I want to ask you, what year is this year?"
"Huh? Mr. Dickinson?" John didn't understand what Sean meant.
"Is this the year 1900, John?"
"1925, sir."
Sean: "Oh, John, thank you! If you hadn't reminded me, I would have thought this year was 1900 when I read today's evening newspaper."
Almost everyone understood Sean's joke, and there was a low laugh in the conference room.
Vincent, the reporter team leader, laughed, and so did Tom, who wrote the report. But editor-in-chief Ryan didn't laugh.
"Everyone, are you serious?" Sean tried his best to control his emotions. "It's 1925 now, and the European War has ended for so long - is our front page headline still about the dance?"
As he spoke, Sean threw today's New Testament on the table. Compared with the old and outdated layout next to it, the layout of the New Testament seemed particularly smart. The huge text seemed to jump out of the paper: "Death by gunshot!" ——”
The subtitle below reads: "In Xiacheng District, three people died!"
"This damn newspaper sold more than 300,000 copies yesterday and today, and we can only predict more or less tomorrow! Can you tell me why now?"
"Mr. Dickinson, please calm down." Ryan's voice was as low as thunder. Although it was not loud, it could reach everyone's ears. "I know what you want to express. The headline chosen by the Times is indeed Eye-catching, but...
"You may not know, but the old readers of the Evening News don't like changes. The ball scene is indeed a relatively old-school report, but they really like it...
"If we abandon older readers, newspaper sales will only..."
Sean waved his hand, and Ryan, who became more and more excited as he spoke, blinked and swallowed the words.
"There are many things we need to discuss..." Sean slowed down and said, "I think this matter is the least necessary thing to discuss." His finger clicked on the title of "Prom Events".
"As you all know, the sales of the Evening News are going from bad to worse...
“If we don’t save ourselves quickly, I’m afraid there will be no New Testament Evening News in the future.”
After Sean's words came out, he won the approval of some people.
But under the supervision of editor-in-chief Ryan, those who were positive took back their attitudes.
"So, today," Sean slowed down, "I'm going to announce a few important things."
As if on the eve of a rainstorm, the conference room suddenly became quieter.
"First," Sean raised a finger, "New Testament Evening News will change its name and enter the newspaper market with a new look."
Before he finished speaking, rustling discussions rang out in the conference room.
Changing the look of a newspaper is a big deal and something that would not be done unless absolutely necessary.
It is also the thing that conservative people hate the most.
Amid the discussion, Sean raised his second finger: "Second, we will suspend the publication for seven days - however, I will write a letter as the new president to explain our suspension."
The discussion became louder, and people exchanged nervous glances, not understanding what was happening here...
"Third..." Sean's voice became louder in order to drown out the panic, "The price of the New Testament Evening News, which appears with a new look, will be adjusted from 4 cents to 2 cents."
"What?!" the reporter team leader almost shouted, "Are we going to become a penny newspaper?!"
Penny newspapers refer to those newspapers that take the low-price route. In the past, the mainstream penny newspapers were 1-cent newspapers, but now the unit price of penny newspapers is mostly 2 cents. Nowadays, only penny newspapers with sales exceeding 100,000 are sold on the market.
As if the sky was falling, the conference room became noisy.
When Sean said the third decision, people seemed to put aside their complaints about the first two.
It is as if, for them, the New Testament Evening News had become a penny paper, a matter of selling their souls.
