Chapter 14: Seek fame and fortune

"Bang! Bang ..."

  Gunshots rang out one after the other, and dazzling flowers danced out from the bloodied man who had just struggled to his feet, eventually falling askew to the ground as several police officers cautiously surrounded him.

  The video playing on the screen ended there, and in Channel 6's Editing Room 1, Carla took a deep breath, the excitement in her eyes having long since shifted to incredulity, as if Columbus had discovered a new continent.

  "You're all free to go." Kara said to the others nearby, "You can all go out first."

  She turned her head to Murphy, who was sitting next to her, "I'm completely blown away! The filming was fantastic! I can't find the right words to describe this video."

  Murphy turned his head to look at her as well, "Thanks."

  "It was just fantastic." Carla seemed to still be mesmerized by the shock of the video, "This is exactly the kind of journalism I've been looking for!"

  "Thanks." Murphy said politely.

  "No, Murph, you don't say thank you." Kara shook her head, "I'm the one who should say thank you, I want to thank you for bringing it to me."

  "You're too kind." Murphy reached out and gave Kara's arm a gentle pat, "We're friends aren't we?"

  Kara backhanded Murphy's hand, not hiding the desire in her eyes, "This video has to be mine, it has to be!"

  Since she came this way first, Kara was of course Murphy's first choice, and he asked, "How much are you willing to pay, dear?"

  The earlier words were just words, if the price wasn't right, Murphy certainly wouldn't sell to Carla and Channel 6.

  The last news video had greatly boosted the program's ratings, and Carla knew exactly what kind of sensational effect the segment in front of her could trigger, saying, "You tell me what the price should be."

  Murphy was not polite, "One hundred thousand dollars."

  A video of such a real police shootout, as well as people being shot dead, blood bursting into the air as well as a series of car chases and crashes, can be said to be a rare sight for several years, Carla just pondered for a few seconds and said, "I can give you this price, but the video has to be shown to my superiors as long as he has no problem with it."

  Commercial television, what does it take?

  Therefore, the result was not the least bit surprising, after Carla's superior had seen the video, he not only agreed to the price of one hundred thousand dollars, but also promised Murphy that the Fox Los Angeles local station would assist him in resolving some of the police and legal issues, avoiding a court injunction as much as possible, thus being able to allow both sides to then continue to dig deeper into the story behind this case.

  To put it bluntly, the station was able to agree to the latter condition, but also understands that once the news video of this case is aired, it will inevitably generate widespread attention, and the investigation of subsequent events can bring more viewers to the station.

  Like Murphy, the TV station wouldn't do anything without benefits.

  "Send the video and my text program to the production room."

  After an editor left with the video materials, Carla and Murphy were left alone in the editing room, she came to Murphy's side, "The check for one hundred thousand dollars can be cashed first thing in the morning."

  Murphy looked over the cash check in his hand and said rather emotionally, "This is the most money I've ever earned."

  "It's only a hundred thousand dollars!" Carla pulled up a chair and sat next to Murphy, "Spend it sparingly."

  "It's a lot of money for me and will go a long way." Murphy collected the check and turned his head to look at Carla, "People from a background like yours wouldn't understand how hard it is for people like us to make money."

  The other party was well-born, graduated from a prestigious university, and became the head of the TV station's news department at the age of twenty-six, so how could she understand the hardships of life for people from his kind of background.

  Carla was silent for a moment, she had seen many people who came out of the slums, but this was the first one who worked as hard as Murphy did.

  She admired people who worked hard like that and kept moving forward for the future.

  "You should get yourself a lawyer."

  Regardless of the purpose, the other party did her a great favor by sending the video over here first, and Carla said in a rare and more conscientious manner, "The police will get you into a lot of trouble later."

  Although Murphy said earlier that he hadn't filmed the two murderers, Carla could guess a lot of things now.

  "I already have a lawyer." Murphy smiled, "And I'm doing my duty as a good citizen should."

  Kara rolled her eyes straight up, if everyone across the room was a good citizen of Los Angeles, then the two dead murderers could practically be named honorary citizens of Los Angeles.

  There was a knock on the door of the editing room and a middle-aged man pushed his way in, "Carla, are you really going to show these videos on the program? And in the manner you have formulated?"

  "That's right." Kara put her smile away and turned her head, "What's the problem?"

  "You're stirring up racial antagonism!" The middle-aged man stepped closer to the side and emphasized, "This could cause a host of social problems."

  Kara didn't even think about it, "That's the effect I want."

  "What?" The middle-aged man didn't seem to believe his ears, "You're creating chaos through the news."

  "Creating? Isn't it a fact that a white police officer shot a black man who didn't put up any resistance!" Carla emphasized again, "This is something that no one can deny."

  Hearing this, even Murphy had to look at Carla with admiration, he himself hadn't thought of this point, the black man who ended up dead, looked like he wouldn't be a threat at all, and the white police still shot him ...

  Compared to Carla, he was really far behind in terms of news acumen! Murphy also completely understand, why Carla and the TV station is willing to accept the price of 100,000 dollars, as well as the necessary time to provide assistance, compared with the payment, this video can bring them something is really too much.

  As for whether or not this would start a racial confrontation, who cares about the network? They couldn't wait for that to happen, that would be enough eye-catching news.

  "We're in the news business." Carla stared at that editor and said in a serious tone, "We must have higher pursuits!"

  That editor was dumbfounded and opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing and slowly exited the editing room under the pressure of Carla's sword-like sharp gaze.

  "Wonderfully said."

  When the door of the editing room closed, Murphy stood up and said, "We can't be confined to the immediate, we should have a farther and higher pursuit."

  Kara caught something and asked, "You still have ideas?"

  "Yeah, this video can bring us more." Murphy took a few steps back and forth, "We could make it into a continuous feature program that purposely highlights black suspects and white cops ..."

  What kind of conflicts these two can inspire, Murphy knows very well, "Track the story along this direction, and then find past news in this area and broadcast it, to strengthen the news effect, and when the timeliness of the news is weakened, it can also be made into a documentary."

  "Good idea!" Kara's eyes lit up even more.

  Murphy, on the other hand, cautioned, "To do all of this, you'd first have to avoid a court press injunction."

  "Such a press injunction won't happen." Carla looked confident, "Don't forget, Channel 6 belongs to the Fox network!"

  How much energy Rupert Murdoch's Fox Television Network had, Murphy wasn't very clear about it, but knew it was very big.

  These two stayed in the first editing room as if they had met a life-long confidant, and discussed enthusiastically the various possibilities for follow-up.

  Carla and Murphy, one seeking fame and the other seeking profit, could be said to have hit it off.

  Time gradually approaching six o'clock in the morning, the morning news is about to broadcast, Murphy followed Carla, together into the editing hall behind the scenes, now he can be considered a familiar guest of this TV station, usually no one will come over to stop.

  The news was about to be broadcast, not out of Murphy and Carla's expectation, the police followed the clues all the way to this side.

  "Who's in charge here?"

  The one who showed up here with the team was the same middle-aged male detective who had questioned Murphy last time, "We're from the LAPD's Major Crimes Unit."

  He pointed at the video footage of the gunfight displayed on the screen and said, "None of this is allowed to be shown, all of it will be handed over to the police, including all of the replicas."

  The middle-aged detective was imposing, as if he had complete say here.

  Murphy and Kara looked at each other, then made a gesture of please.

  "What do you want?" Carla walked over quickly, "I'm the Director of Information, you can call me if you have any questions."

  "I demand that you collect all these shootouts, car chases ..." The middle-aged detective pointed to the screen again, "All of them, and no more broadcasts, these are... ..."

  "I'm sorry," he didn't get to finish his sentence before Kara interrupted, "this is Channel 6 property."

  "It's evidence of a crime!" The middle-aged detective glared at Kara, who was unfazed, "What evidence? It's our news!"

  Carla's attitude was tough, and the female detective next to the middle-aged detective spoke up at the right time, "There are two police officers dying in the hospital right now, four dead, eleven injured, and a large number of violent and vicious crimes, all of which are extremely important evidence."

  However, Carla was unmoved, arms wrapped around her chest, "This is news that the station must broadcast."

  "You are strictly forbidden to broadcast it!" The middle-aged detective roared.

  "Are you going to interfere with the freedom of the press?" Kara looked at the middle-aged detective and said calmly, "It's fine if you want to take this away and ban the station from broadcasting it."

  She said, word for word, "Please show us your court injunction!"

  "You ..." the middle-aged detective seemed unsure of what to say.

  Carla said to the security personnel who had followed the police in, "The program is about to start, so please ask uninvolved people to get out."

  After that, she said to the two detectives, "Our legal department will be in touch with you if you have any more questions, that's all, I have work to do, thank you."

  This is a media department after all, the police didn't dare to do anything more, so they had no choice but to leave for the time being, and watched as the video shot by Murphy made its way onto Channel 6's morning news, becoming the social center of public discussion in Los Angeles.

  The news broadcast ended, Murphy asked the security personnel at the door and walked next to Carla, "There are still police outside, it looks like I have to go to the police station."

  "Don't forget to contact your lawyer." Kara reminded.