Chapter 167: Stance and Blade

[Chapter 168: Stance and Blade]

In the conference room, heavy drapes hung closed.

The projector's data cable connected to the computer, casting video footage on the screen, accompanied by strange sounds from the man and woman.

Including Hawke, a group of Twitter's management gathered here, collectively taking in the spectacle.

Compared to the Smiths' leaked video, Rick Salomon's openly filmed footage of Paris Hilton was much clearer.

Frank sat beside Edward, struggling to comprehend, "Is she out of her mind? How did she let someone film her like this? The Hilton family failed miserably in their upbringing."

From the opposite side, Caroline quietly remarked, "I guess she's not the main inheritor; she prioritizes enjoying life."

Edward chimed in, "You hardly see any news on the male descendants of the Hilton family in the media."

Frank turned to glance at him, saying, "I see now, it turns out cotton in your head can still sprout intelligence."

"Hey, old man," Edward shot back, "What's your ex-wife's last name?"

Flipping the tables, Frank shot back confidently, "Elizabeth Taylor; you dare to go there?"

Edward nodded, "Got it; you were a gigolo for a married woman."

Hawke gently tapped the table, and everyone promptly fell silent.

The video footage ran quite long; totaling over an hour and a half.

Once the playback concluded, Edward hit 'stop' on the projector and opened the curtains.

As the company's free consultant, Frank added, "Being a wealthy heiress, an East Side socialite; these two identities are more than eye-catching. This news is comparable to that of a Hollywood A-list actress."

At that moment, the tech director Harland asked, "When will the video be published online? The tech department needs to prepare in advance."

"Next week, ahead of the summer movie season," Hawke had already planned this out. "This week, we can capitalize on the traffic from the LAPD and Dodgers collaboration. By next week, a lot of that will have decreased."

Caroline reminded, "We're a legitimate media outlet; when we upload this, we need to censor it and avoid exposing critical parts."

Hawke nodded and instructed Edward, "Select the clearest segment from the footage and edit it down to under ten minutes. The key parts must all be censored, and wait for my go-ahead."

Edward took down the storage device connected to the computer, saying, "I'll get right on it."

Hawke stood up, addressing everyone in the conference room, "This is company confidential; no one is to disclose it to anyone before the news goes live."

With that, the meeting concluded.

Edward took the storage device back to his office to edit.

Retired former producer Frank followed him, ready to offer guidance.

Hawke suspected the old coot just wanted to watch Paris Hilton a few more times, but he had no proof.

...

Caroline followed Hawke into the office and said, "This footage exceeds an hour and a half. Is it really enough to only edit ten minutes for online play?"

Hawke replied, "There are only three sections that are truly bright and clear; ten minutes of highlights will be sufficient."

"What about the remaining parts?" Caroline inquired.

Hawke didn't answer directly but asked her, "What's your take on it?"

After thinking it over, and considering Hawke's past style, she quickly suggested, "I thought of two approaches. We have exclusive rights to this; the ten-minute highlights can ignite news interest and serve as a great advertisement."

She had her own capabilities: "During the 'Selfie Gate' situation, I recall you collaborated with the Private studios. We can do this again -- buying the footage for $800,000 and partnering with the Private on DVD and tape distribution, referring back to the sales of 'Selfie Gate', we could rake in at least $5 million."

Hawke acknowledged, "That's indeed a solid strategy. Since the company's establishment, we've yet to score a significant income, and if we can pull this off, the profits will be considerable."

Hearing her boss praise her, Caroline smiled triumphantly and added, "The second approach is that if Paris Hilton has any sense of morality left, she'll likely approach us to buy back the video footage, after all, as a legitimate media outlet, we're releasing a pixelated version."

Hawke nodded, "As long as she bids high enough, selling it back to her is an option."

Caroline quickly replied, "I'll go plan that out now."

Sitting at his desk, Hawke opened his computer and browsed online. The internet was filled with gossip about Paris Hilton, outnumbering that of typical Hollywood stars.

The heiress was at one of the most chaotic, rebellious, and crazy stages of her life.

While he could guess the thoughts of ordinary people, those like her had muddled minds; who could know what she was thinking?

Hawke prepared for the worst.

...

Century City, Fox Television Center.

At the Fox & Friends production team, an assistant knocked on the door of the associate producer's office, and once she heard conversation from inside, she entered.

She approached the desk, placing a package down, saying, "The postal service just dropped this off."

Gretchen took it and looked at the package, shipped from Las Vegas. She dismissed her assistant and opened it.

Inside were printed documents along with several photos; the young women pictured were all exceptionally attractive, making them first-class within the Hollywood context.

Gretchen confirmed she didn't recognize any of these girls.

As she looked through the corresponding information, the more she felt something was off. According to the materials, all these girls were missing, with no signs of life or death.

The disappearance of young, beautiful girls wasn't anything rare in America or Los Angeles.

Yet, Gretchen sensed something was wrong. After finishing the documents, she reviewed them again.

With years of experience in frontline news, she had a well-honed instinct for news stories and quickly found a common thread among them.

Two girls went missing from the Super Star Training School, and another girl vanished from a film set. All three cases involved Ackerman Films' name.

Gretchen searched online and discovered that billionaire Buddy Ackerman was the main shareholder of Ackerman Films, and the Super Star Training School was one of many subsidiaries Ackerman Films had invested in.

Clearly, someone had purposefully sent this her way.

Such a simple fact, and even Gretchen could piece it together.

During her time hosting Ace News, she must have received countless similar news tips. A portion of those turned into hot news stories.

However, this time felt different. Gretchen searched online for updates on Buddy Ackerman. A quick search returned numerous charitable news stories.

Buddy Ackerman had donated to a research institution dealing with blood diseases.

The Ackerman Charity Foundation sponsored blood tests for children to screen potential diseases.

There were also provisions for the homeless, distributing food, water, temporary housing, conducting health checks, and rescuing the sick.

Amidst this charitable news, Gretchen stumbled upon a political news story.

A newspaper image from the Los Angeles Times showed Buddy Ackerman with the current governor, Gray Davis, and the lieutenant governor, Wilson.

Gretchen felt this was no surprise; Hollywood's Jewish community tended to lean toward deep blue. Many in Fox's management were also of Jewish descent.

These individuals sometimes assisted one another.

Under normal circumstances, such leads would be filed away in a cabinet, ignored until an opportune time arose to exploit them.

But Gretchen thought more deeply; two of the three hosts of Fox & Friends were above her in rank.

A powerless anchor was merely a puppet for the producer and director.

After a moment of contemplation, Gretchen picked up the phone and called, waiting for the connection. "Hi, it's me, Gretchen. Is Roger available? I'd like to meet with him."

"Just a moment." It was quiet for a bit before she heard, "You can come up in half an hour."

"Thanks." Gretchen hung up and quickly changed clothes.

...

She swapped her standard outfit for a short skirt, stockings, and high heels -- Roger's favorites -- then brushed her teeth and spritzed on some perfume.

When the time was right, Gretchen took the leads with her and rode the private elevator upstairs, arriving outside the office of the Fox emperor, Roger Ailes.

Upon entering the office, the hefty Roger Ailes waved her over, "Come here, let me take a look at you."

Gretchen had become accustomed to this; familiarity could be a powerful force.

She wouldn't feel shame; instead, she fully utilized these moments for the resources she wanted.

Gretchen provided Roger with a thorough service.

But Roger wouldn't base essential decisions solely on that.

Having looked over the materials, he said coolly, "Someone wants to use Fox as a weapon."

Gretchen tentatively probed, "The opposition belongs to the deep blue, standing against us."

Roger didn't respond but considered who had provided the materials.

The first name that popped into his mind was Arnold Schwarzenegger.

This guy was a candidate some from the red side had put forward to compete against Gray Davis for the governorship, but there were dissenting voices within the red camp.

Was he planning to stir up an even fiercer battle between red and blue to gain full support from the red side?

The powerful Fox had no fear of Ackerman; strictly speaking, the two sides operated on entirely different levels.

Roger Ailes, informing his stance due to Fox's political positioning, contemplated before stating, "Alright, research this; if you uncover substantial information, hold off on reporting and bring it to me."

Fox wanted to grasp the initiative first.

Gretchen reached her goal; soon, she took her leave and returned to her office.

...

She found her capable assistant, Harley, handing her the materials. "Look through these carefully. For the foreseeable future, you and your news team will be solely responsible for investigating this story. Don't make any noise about it; just bring the results to me."

Harley, once feeling disappointed, had been lifted by Gretchen's arrival.

As a young reporter not long in the field, Harley was brimming with ambition, her ideals not yet dimmed.

Flipping through the documents slightly, she discovered they involved the disappearances of girls similar to her, which sparked a feeling of empathy, adding a sense of girls helping girls. She declared, "I'll make sure to investigate thoroughly!"

*****

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