American Gossip King

Chapter 29 The Newspaper Industry Will Eventually Decline

The car door opened, and Ian got out.

He stood on the street, watching Jitter's car drive away, his gaze slightly gloomy.

He whistled and turned to give a thumbs-up to the distant building.

Editor Bill waved from a distance and left with his camera.

Ian then walked home.

He strolled along, his eyes scanning the crowd, confirming that Madman Git had sent men to follow him.

The long street was bustling with pedestrians, but Ian remained calm. Emotionally, he felt no fear, but reason told him that he needed to improve his eyesight as soon as possible.

Hopefully, there will be an improvement in terms of combat strength.

Back home, Ian took off his coat and hung it on the outside coat rack.

Upon entering the kitchen, I saw that my mother had already prepared a sumptuous dinner.

"It looks delicious, Mom." Ian picked up a piece of fried chicken and put it in his mouth.

Mrs. Carl seemed very happy to see her son return.

She took off her floral apron, went over and hugged her son, kissed him on the forehead, and smiled broadly: "You've done another good news story, son, and you've saved an innocent girl."

As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes again: "It's a pity you matured so late; your father won't be able to see it."

Ian sincerely replied, "I have always regretted my past bastard behavior, but now I no longer associate with those people. I will dedicate the rest of my life to revealing the truth to the people and bringing the latest news from around the world."

He sat down at the table and, while eating, happily told his mother about today's newspaper sales and the discussions that were taking place on the internet.

Mrs. Carl clearly hadn't considered what her son's actions meant; the simple-minded old lady was simply happy for her son's growth.

She murmured, "Your father's business will be carried on and flourish in your hands."

Ian laughed and said, "I can't guarantee that, Mom."

Mrs. Carl exclaimed in surprise, "What did you say?"

Ian replied, "Actually... my next plan is to create an internet news platform."

Mrs. Carl was taken aback: "Internet news? Your father objected to that; he said it was selling gold as garbage."

Ian wasn't surprised by this.

After all, internet news was originally a free news website that only earned traffic and not money, especially now that it has just gone through the bursting of the internet bubble and is in a trough.

While Ian can earn money by providing news to internet news websites, most platforms themselves are still losing money—GG fees are not enough to cover expenses.

Only a few news websites are profitable, but their profitability is generally low.

Old Karl dismissed this with disdain.

He believes the essence of all this is that the internet has diminished the value of news!

Ian said, "The Internet is the future trend, and it will develop even better in the future."

Although the Internet was booming during this period, the Internet economy was still in its infancy. Websites like Facebook had not yet emerged, and mobile Internet was even further away.

Even if there are discrepancies in time and space, the general trend will not easily change.

The question is how you seize the opportunity...

Ian, his mouth greasy, mumbled, "Print media will decline sooner or later, and the internet will impact everything, not just print media, but also television stations and even movies."

Mrs. Carl exclaimed in surprise, "You mean there will be no more newspapers?"

Ian shook his head: "No, newspapers will always exist, but sales will continue to decline. In fact, many large media groups have already begun to transform. The 1920s were the golden age of the newspaper industry, when daily circulation reached 36 million copies. But with the continuous emergence of new media, newspaper sales have been declining. Now, national newspaper circulation is only about 20 million copies per day. Super-newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times are lucky to have peak circulation of 1.8 million copies, which is global sales! It will shrink further in the future. Small newspapers will have an even harder time; hundreds of small newspapers go bankrupt every year."

Mrs. Carl sighed, "Well, I don't understand. If you think it's right, then do it. But I must remind you, son, that the Los Angeles Herald is your father's life's work."

"Don't worry, Mom. Newspapers may decline, but news will always exist; it's just in a different medium! Necessary sacrifices bring greater rewards. The Carl family is in the news business, not just newspapers," Ian replied with a smile.

You can't let emotions get the better of you when doing business.

This feeling applies not only to people, but also to companies.

The idea that "this is my family business, I can't lose it, I have an emotional attachment to it" is, in Ian's view, a superfluous thought.

In any case, most Chinese people don't have this concept.

In the old timeline, the renowned BlackRock Group went to China to speculate in stocks, but ultimately couldn't compete with Chinese companies.

They said sadly, "I only wanted to buy their stock, but the Chinese want to sell me their entire company!"

This statement is poignant and reflects the significant differences in business thinking between Chinese and Americans. Chinese people still use money as the core metric when doing business, while Americans want more than just money. They also want other related things, such as political influence. Therefore, they don't just aim to make money; the industry itself remains important.

Money without industry has no political influence.

Ian combines the strengths of both families, allowing him to recklessly sell off his original business, and also to kill with his own hands and betray his conscience for money.

Hmm, this isn't combining the strengths of both, but rather their weaknesses!

But who cares?

So he smiled at his mother and said, "I can't guarantee that the Los Angeles Herald will live forever. I may sell it in the future, Mother, but I can assure you that although the Herald may not last forever, the Carl family is destined to become the most prominent family in America."

Mrs. Carl looked at her son excitedly: "You need to have children before you can have a family."

You need a woman before you can have a child.

The latest novel is first published here!

Kate Beckinsale?

No, she will not be the mother of my child.

Ian smiled: "Yes, Mom, everything will be alright!"

………………

After dinner, Ian took his camera and went for a walk.

This has become his daily habit.

After all, nighttime is when America is at its most vibrant—suitable for indulgence, robbery, and murder.

If Ian didn't need to improve his fighting skills, he could easily make a big fuss every night by simply strolling through the gang-ridden streets of Los Angeles.

There are countless news reports combining gunfights with pornography.

His physical abilities limited his potential!

Ian has already started thinking about working out – after all, Kate needs to be in good shape, right?

She thought I didn't last long enough.

As he walked along, the neighbors all greeted him warmly.

Just a short time ago, Ian Carl was as pathetic as a rat crossing the street, with debt collectors everywhere. Ian was all smiles as he returned the favor.

As Ian strolled casually by, he glanced around and let out a soft exclamation.

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PS:

Actually, my initial idea was to write about a time-space deviation, where America isn't called America, but Magnesium, and Los Angeles is called Los Angeles, and so on.

It's mainly suitable for creating celebrity storylines. To be honest, I've always had a headache writing about celebrity scandals because it involves some celebrity scandals and could potentially constitute defamation.

I later changed it back at the editor's suggestion, but now I think I still need to add some explanation: this timeline is a parallel timeline, and there are deviations. For example, CBS was acquired by Viacom long ago in the original timeline, but it wasn't in this timeline. If there are any differences in the future, please understand them as timeline deviations, but on the other hand, I will try my best to stay consistent with the original timeline.

Additionally: There will be some celebrity scandals later on, some of which are true, but some are purely fictional. Please do not take it personally. (Also, for sensitive reasons, this book will try to avoid writing about China, try to... this is the helpless realization of someone who has been burned before).

Actually, because I've dabbled in the shallow waters of the film and television industry, I do know some anecdotes about celebrities, but I really can't say them... but I can piece them together.

When faced with emotions, people don't even want the truth, let alone fabrications.

Finally, this book isn't just about Hollywood. It covers everything – violence, sex, economics, politics! The main storyline is actually about business development, and the stories revolve around various news events. Given the protagonist's style, he'll develop many exciting news stories and unbelievable interviewing methods later on.

Therefore, the plot of this book is bound to be exciting.

I hope you like it; your support is my motivation.

(End of this chapter)