News Agents
With the printing press the amount of newspapers in the city has gone through something of a boom and nearly every street corner is occupied by a news boy shouting out the latest headlines in an effort to draw in the crowds in hopes of a sale. However as literacy rates tend to be rather low many choose to take to local pubs where reading rooms are a norm and often those who can read exceptionally well provide an oral account of the news on offer. In fact many pubs advertise these rooms along with a copy of the local paper of which there are 11 spread out across the entirety of Arbor. Each of the papers is for the local area it serves and provides relevant information for the citizens who live in the area.
Newspapers are the chains of the mind, binding us to a reality created by those in power, blinding us to the truth and keeping us captive to their rule. In a police state, where freedom of the press is a myth, the media becomes the mouthpiece of oppression, spewing propaganda and shaping the masses to the whims of their masters. The truth becomes a casualty in this war of words, and the only weapon we have against it is the courage to resist and fight back. - Jasper Grey (Anarchist)
The 12 Papers
In Arbor news is delivered through a multitude of fashions though the most prevalent of the modern era is the paper. There are total of 12 minor news companies that produce newspapers for the citizenry in and around Arbor. The papers themselves are divided into the areas they cover mostly focusing on local area news though all will have sections for citywide news or even international news should there be something of great importance. It should also be noted in the Second Ring, Third Ring and the Twigs that often times the local pubs will have special reading rooms where those who cannot read can go to have the paper orated to them, this is because the average literacy rate in Arbor hovers around 56% with the lion share of this being in the upper class and the younger generations. Otherwise the Papers attempt to cover the news of the local area and most have some sort of political or social leaning to them depending on the area and who owns them.Papers in the Canopy
The Canopy Chronicle
- Type of Paper: Focuses in two main areas, the social scene of the Upper Class and the business of running Arbor
- Area of Service: Primarily services the Canopy though some copies do make their way down to the Inner Ring and even the first ring in some cases.
- Political Leaning: Tends to be very Right leaning paper, disparaging remarks about unions and certain companies are not uncommon and any talk of social mobility is purely by your own bootstraps.
- Owner: The Tree-Wrights
Papers in the Inner Ring
The Inner Circle Press
- Type of Paper: Focuses in a lot of the church related business and things to do with The Great Tree. It is partially a propaganda piece for the The Seekers and has a comic section about some of their more daring adventures.
- Area of Service: The Inner Ring, though papers particularly the comics find there way all over the city.
- Political Leaning: Extremely conservative values.
- Owner: The Order of the Fallen Leaves
Papers in the First Ring
The Ring Leader
- Type of Paper: Business paper going into great detail about the rise and fall of various factories and ventures, often has information about new processes to attempt to get more out of workers in opinion pieces and regularly used to expose Union busting techniques and flag known trouble makers.
- Area of Service: The First Ring
- Political Leaning: Conservative with a strong leaning towards Capitalism
- Owner: Factory Bosses
Papers in the Second Ring
The Sentinel
- Type of Paper: Advocacy paper, constantly speaking about the plight of the working class and how the only way out is to seize the means of production. Though often looked at with derision it has garnered some respect after exposing more than a small amount of corruption in places of power.
- Area of Service: The Second Ring though it is not unusual to find a copy that has made its way into the Twigs
- Political Leaning: Very Left leaning, Pro Union and Pro better working conditions
- Owner: Unknown though there are suspicions that The Dockers may have a hand there is no hard evidence.
The Steam-Driven News
- Type of Paper: One of the first papers to focus on the middle class and their new place in society. It's focus is in areas of new technologies and innovations along with news of local crime and such
- Area of Service: The Second Ring
- Political Leaning: Fairly down the middle
- Owner: The Gilded
- Notable Reporters:
- Archie Birdges - Reporter who looks at mostly puff pieces and society articles
- Lila Beatrice Parson: - Focuses on crime and unusual cases of adventure
The Collegiate Press
- Type of Paper: Focuses solely on magical business within the bounds of the city of Arbor, including new research, recruitment drives and how to spot if someone is displaying magical abilities in an unsafe way. It also acts as a method for advertising the Collegiate Arcanum's services to those who would probably use it
- Area of Service: The Second Ring though the wanted ads section has been found all over the city and in fact is often posted to boards in pubs.
- Political Leaning: Very pro magic is dangerous and must be controlled
- Owner: Collegiate Arcanum
Papers in the Third Ring
The Iron Press
- Type of Paper: A paper the explicitly details how workers should be grateful for the opportunity to work in the factories and smelteries of Arbor it is a clear propaganda vehicle for Factory Bosses and The Iron Hands
- Area of Service: The Third Ring though specifically the Factory Districts.
- Political Leaning: Conservative, Libertarian
- Owner: The Iron Hands
The Rail Report
- Type of Paper: Primarily this paper has all the details about any outages or trouble on any of the lines of track that run around Arbor. It laso details some tips or tricks to make your journey a bit nicer.
- Area of Service: Most of Arbor however their offices are located in the Third Ring so there is a high amount there.
- Political Leaning: Very pro business but mostly stay out of politics beyond that
- Owner: The Black Hands
The Silver Standard
- Type of Paper: State run newspaper organization, it's primary purpose is to disseminate state news to the people
- Area of Service: The Third Ring primarily though you will find a copy in much of Arbor
- Political Leaning: Right leaning, conservative with a strong anti union leaning
- Owner: The Silver Council
Papers in the Twigs
The Factory Gazette
- Type of Paper: A kind of day in the life of type of paper looking at working conditions of the common man
- Area of Service: The Third Ring and the Twigs though many of these end up in the Second and First Ring as curiosities
- Political Leaning: None, purely factual reporting
- Owner: The Pipemen
Birds Eye View
- Type of Paper: A paper made exclusivly for Avian in the city of Arbor. It details things about their specific needs and life in The Nest
- Area of Service: The Twigs though specifically the Nest
- Political Leaning: Radical Left, a lot of the articles are very anti Silver council and even suggest breaking off and forming a smaller government without them
- Owner: The Red Wings
The Fiery Truth
- Type of Paper: Provocateur style new source that advocates for the immediate cessation of Great Tree resources. How the Flamewalkers even got a printing press is beyond everyone.
- Area of Service: Mostly the Twigs and this paper is usually burned on sight due to its nature
- Political Leaning: Radical almost terrorist
- Owner: The Flamewalkers
The People's Voice
- Type of Paper: A very simple paper about the news of the area of the Twigs. Marriages, Births, Deaths and other smaller festivals are the fare of the day along with postings for work.
- Area of Service: The Twigs and Third Ring.
- Political Leaning: Left but only slightly to keep the advertisers happy
- Owner: One of the few Co-Operatives in all of Arbor it's owned by the people that work it which changes all the time.
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