Headquarters of the Daily Orange, Monape Street, Bloemfontein.
"Orange Daily" is the only newspaper in southern Africa published in the Boer language, so its sales volume is not high. It only has a market among the Boers, and its influence is limited to Orange State. The sales volume of each issue is about
About 3000 copies.
This sales volume is not worth mentioning in southern Africa. In the entire southern Africa, not to mention the sales of "The Times", "Nyasaland Daily" and the "Rand Morning News" headquartered in Johannesburg, which sell more than 100,000 copies every day, the sales volume of
Around 20,000 copies.
In the morning, Vern Tours, editor-in-chief of the Daily Orange, came to the office at eight o'clock as usual. The secretary had already made tea for Fern Tours responsibly and handed over the "The Times" published that day.
The Daily News and the Rand Morning News were placed on Vern Tooles' desk. Vern Tooles read these two newspapers every day. While paying attention to current affairs, he also looked to see if there was any material that could be mined.
Unlike the Times, which has branches all over the world, and the powerful Rand Morning Post, the Daily Orange is small and weak, with a serious lack of funds. It often has to reprint news from other newspapers, translate it and publish it in
Although the timeliness of the "Daily Orange" is less timely, this is how many small newspapers survive.
The Times is backed by the Times Media Group, and the Rand Morning News is backed by the Johannesburg Mining Union. The Orange Daily News has limited funding sources, and Vern Tours has to live a prudent life.
In the past few days, Vern Tours has been in a pretty good mood. After the "Journal of Orange" published the news of the death of Louis Botta, the sales volume increased slightly, and the daily circulation increased to about 4,000 copies. This
Although the sales volume is still not worth mentioning compared with "The Times", it is already a big improvement for "The Daily Orange".
The front page headline of "The Times" is that Louis Botta's body will arrive at Walvis Bay on January 15th, and will then be sent to Pretoria by plane. According to Louis Botha's will, Louis Botta will
Ta's remains will be buried on the outskirts of Pretoria.
This news made Fern Tours uncomfortable. In Fern Tours' view, as a Boer, Louis Botha should bury his body in Orange.
However, Pretoria used to be the capital of the Transvaal Republic, so it is normal for Louis Botha to choose Pretoria.
After Louis Botha's body arrives in Pretoria, the federal government will hold a state funeral for Louis Botha. The city of Pretoria has decided to name the street in front of the train station Louis Botha Street, after
In memory of Louis Botha's contribution to the city of Pretoria.
During the Second Boer War, it was the then Commander-in-Chief of the Boer Allied Forces, Louis Botha, who ordered the voluntary abandonment of Pretoria, which saved Pretoria from being completely destroyed by the war.
The front page headline of the "Rand Daily" is that the Johannesburg Mining Alliance has decided to initiate investment in Madagascar and the Kingdom of Mozambique. It has joined forces with the South African Company and Nyasaland Company Rand Bank to jointly establish a Madagascar company to conduct investment in mineral resources in Madagascar and the Kingdom of Mozambique.
development.
Strictly speaking, this is not news. With the decline of France, French colonial rule in Madagascar has collapsed. In Madagascar now, companies with similar strength basically have southern African backgrounds, and no company named after "Madagascar" is known to them.
How many are there.
In an inconspicuous corner of the Times, a piece of news caught the attention of Vern Tours: the Ministry of National Defense decided to send troops to Freiburg to quell the ongoing riots in Freiburg.
When he saw the news, Vern Tours felt a little upset.
Freiburg is the last stronghold of the traditional Boers. If an accident occurs in Freiburg, the last stronghold of the traditional Boers will soon disappear.
By then there will be fewer people speaking Boer, and the sales of "Daily Orange" will also decrease. After all, by then, the only gimmick of "Daily Orange" will disappear with the disappearance of Freiburg.
disappear.
"Malachi—" Vern Touls opened the door and called his secretary in.
Dressed in formal attire, Malachi, who was only in his early twenties, immediately appeared in front of Vern Tours' desk.
"Has the interview pass been issued?" Vern Tours wanted to go to Freiburg in person to see what happened in Freiburg.
In other words, Vern Tours wanted to see what method the Ministry of Defense would use to quell the "riot" in Freiburg.
The reason for adding quotation marks is that Vern Tours does not believe that a "riot" is taking place in Freiburg at all. How can free people speak out bravely and be described as a "riot"?
"Sorry, sir, not yet. The city government does not allow reporters to go to Freiburg for interviews at this stage." Malarkey is an outstanding young man who just graduated from University College London the year before last.
"No interviews allowed? Why can reporters from The Times go?" Vern Tours was dissatisfied. Reporters from The Times always have privileges.
Malachi had nothing to say. What kind of size is the Times and the size of the Daily Orange? The editor-in-chief should have some ideas.
"Prepare a gift for Harold. No matter what, I want to get a permit to go to Freiburg." Vern Tours was positive. Harold is the official in charge of media in Bloemfontein.
"Sir, we have no money in our account, only 150 rand left." Malachi was embarrassed. The Daily Orange newspaper has more than a dozen employees, and 150 rand is not enough to pay next month's salary.
"Has the money from Bernard Company not arrived yet?" Vern Tours was not surprised. In addition to the income from selling newspapers, the Daily Orange also usually receives some donations, but the amount of donations is
They are all very small, unlike The Times, which can easily number in the thousands or tens of thousands.
Bernard Company is a large financial backer of the Daily Orange. It placed several advertisements in the Daily Orange some time ago, but the fees have not yet been settled.
"Bernard Company has collapsed and has entered bankruptcy liquidation procedures. Mr. Bernard has also disappeared and many creditors are looking for him." Malachi looked sad. The situation of the "Orange Daily News" is indeed a bit difficult.
"Call the police and arrest him, this bastard!"
"The police are looking for him too—"
Fern Turtles felt so sad that he didn't even know who to call when he picked up the phone. It was raining all night, and the boat was late and there was a strong wind.
Just as I put the phone down, the phone rang suddenly.
"Hello -" Vern Tours picked up the receiver and was annoyed.
"Fern, let's go quickly, the police are going to arrest you -" the voice on the other end of the phone was urgent, and after finishing speaking, he hung up in a hurry.
"Hey - what did you say - hey - what the hell is going on -" Vern Tours panicked, and the thing he was most worried about finally came to light.
As the only newspaper in southern Africa published in the Boer language, Fern Tours has a clear positioning for the Daily Orange.
First of all, the Daily Orange must abide by the law and support the federal government in order to survive.
But this is contrary to the interests of the Boers. To survive, they must rely on the federal government, but to survive well, they must be good at exploiting the rebellious sentiments of the traditional conservative Boers.
The Journal of Orange has always done a good job in this regard. For example, when reporting the news of the death of Louis Botta, the Journal of Orange used some guiding and obscure language.
The Daily Orange has always done this.
"Sir, what should we do?" Malachi looked shocked, obviously hearing the voice on the other end of the phone.
How can the sound of the magnet phone be so loud? This is unscientific——
"It doesn't matter, calm down, calm down. The more critical the moment, the more we have to stay calm -" Vern Tours said he wanted to be calm, but in fact he was very confused.
People who are wandering on the edge of 404 are probably like this. It feels great when coding, but after finishing coding, I start to feel scared. I don’t eat well, I can’t sleep well, and I get frightened at the slightest disturbance.
But you can't make any money at all. They are all programmers, and they all have 996 blessings. Look at others, and then look at yourself. People are so popular that they are so annoying.
——
Before Vern Tours could think of a way, the door to the office was pushed open forcefully, and several policemen in khaki uniforms swarmed in.
Vern Tours' expression was horrified, and his body was shaking unconsciously while sitting in his chair.
"Mr. Vern Tours, we have something that we need you to cooperate with in the investigation. Please come with us immediately." The sergeant leading the team had a serious expression and looked at Vern Tours as if he were a criminal.
Same.
This is an occupational disease. The police see everyone as a criminal.
"Why? What mistake did I make?" Vern Tours had a strong desire to survive.
"Nothing, I'll buy you a cup of coffee -" the police chief smiled, but it must have looked like a sinister smile in the eyes of Vern Tours.
"I didn't make a mistake, you have no right to take me away -" Vern Tours resisted.
"Follow me honestly and don't force me to put handcuffs on you." The Sheriff still wanted to save some face for Vern Tours. After all, they are all decent people.
When Vern Tours gave in and followed the police chief out of the office, he was still talking about unintelligible words, such as "press rights" and "free speech", which caused the police officers to burst into laughter, and the office and outside were filled with joyful laughter.
Air.
In fact, the newspaper office was already in chaos at this time. The employees on the first floor were busy organizing their belongings. Two policemen were preparing to put a seal on the door. There were people watching outside the door. The front was better, but the people behind had to do their best.
Stretching his neck, one thin man even opened his mouth wide, like a dead fish.
: I’m troubled by trivial matters. I haven’t recovered yet. My old father has another health problem. Yesterday his blood pressure reached 190. I have to go to the hospital soon. I’ll try my best to update at noon——