Anne strode through the door to Marty’s office. She projected as much authority as she could. She masked the icy rage that burned underneath. Marty talked loudly on a call. Without looking at her, he motioned to take a seat. A small seat with no armrests, dwarfed by his ornate desk. She knew that trick. She ignored him and stood.
As angry as she was she always maintained a facade of professionalism. The morning team hadn’t run the story. Either they were cowards, or corporate got involved. The federal police that lurked the building hinted at something worse. The optics of an authoritarian move by the government. They’d even had the gall to ask her for her ID. She had put them in their place.
She had waited to come see Marty, let him stew first. The story would run, she just had to play this right. He put down the phone, clearly uncomfortable as he made eye contact with her.
“What the hell happened, Marty?”
“I know, l know,” he said, his palms up in a calming gesture. “I talked to corporate, but they refused, and then the government got involved. It was a total mess. My hands are tied in this. The story won’t run.”
“Not good enough,” she regulated her tone and maintained her icy calm. “And you let the police in?”
“Nothing I could do,” he said.
“On what grounds did they reject the story?”
“It’s not going to happen, Anne,“ he smiled a sad smile. “Don’t push this, it’s not worth your job.”
She closed his door a little harder than intended. She’d seen this before over her years reporting, creeping authoritarianism. Governments had a nasty habit of extending powers in times of crisis. And so what if they fired her? She had loved her life as a journalist. She could go back to that.
Anne sat at her desk, “That damn coward,” she yelled and slammed her fists on the desk. She needed control. She ran through her breathing exercises. There was a soft knock at the door. “Come,”Anne said.
Chloe entered, a petite timid woman, good at her job but easily overlooked. “Sorry to bother you,” she said.
Anne smoothed her face. She refused to take her anger out on those below her. “It’s fine, what do you have?”
“I got a tip off, a source from inside a hospital. It’s bad, there’s a lot of sick people. The Federal Police have taken them over, staff are being forced to sign non-disclosure agreements.”
“Can you contact this source? We need footage.“
“I’ll contact him,” Chloe said.
“Is the lead story ready?” Anne asked.
“Yes.. but Marty said it wasn’t going on.”
“Good, it’s going to run,” Chloe seemed uncomfortable, but Anne didn’t have time to coddle her. “Report back to me when you have an update on that footage.”
She barely paid attention to Chloe leaving. Anne closed her eyes and re-started her breathing exercises. She had to be prepared, she could not afford to get angry. This was her last line before more drastic action became necessary. She picked up her phone and dialled.
“Hello Anne, I was wondering when you would call,” the director answered, his tone even.
“Why was the story rejected and why are there police here?”
“It’s a matter of public safety”
“And what does that mean?”
“We are running stories to keep the public informed on a need to know basis, the government has the situation under control, It’s your job to keep the people informed without causing panic.”
Anne waited but said no more, “don’t give me that, I’ve been in this game long enough to deserve an explanation.”
The director paused for a long time. It felt like minutes, “I like you, so I will level with you. The government needs to do things the public wouldn’t accept. I’ve got guarantees we can tell the story after it’s all done.”
“After it’s done? Our duty is to inform the public, the choice should be put in their hands, not ours. If the government needs to hide its actions, all the more reason to expose them. We need not lie to the public, that kind of attitude is why people don’t trust the media.”
“Really Anne?,” he laughed, “you want the masses making decisions?”
There must be something in it for him, she decided, “Why did you agree to this?”
“There wasn’t really a choice, I had a lengthy call with a government minister who clarified the situation. They have informed me of the Indonesia situation. Reports are limited since the internet went down, but what they had was convincing. The government is doing what is necessary, preparations are in motion. I trust that this is the last I will hear on this matter.”
Anne sat at her desk and mapped out options. At least she knew where corporate stood. Another knock on her door interrupted her. “What?”
Jonothan entered her office. He held up a pack of unopened cigarettes. “Care to join me on the roof?”
She smiled despite herself.
They stood on the roof of the building, looking out over the city below. The harsh smoke tasted awful. They hadn’t had a smoke together like this in years.
Jonothan studied her for a long while, “What’s on your mind, Anne?”
She filled him in on her talk with the director and the information the journalists had gathered.
“That’s not all of it,” he said, his face serious, no trace of a smile, “I got word from contacts in the military, they’re being deployed to major cities overnight. There’s rumours they will enact martial law.”
“I don’t like it.” Anne said.
“Neither do I,” he said.
They stood in silence for a long time.
She took a drag and exhaled slowly. “I needed this,” she laughed.
“I could tell. Saw that scary look you get. The one you get when something is in your way.”
She laughed. “I’m not that obvious, am I?”
“To me you are,” he said. “I heard you went off at Marty. Thought you’d gone soft. It’s been a long time since you were like this.”
She looked at him, despite all the years she could still see that boy from her youth underneath.
“It’s good to see. I never picked you for settling. I imagined you still attached to a regiment in some far-off conflict till you got dragged off into retirement.”
“I didn’t settle Jono, I got tired. You can only see so much.” She looked out over the city, “people need to know.”
“I agree.” He took a slow drag from his cigarette and coughed. “I’ve got my slot on the radio tomorrow. If Marty won’t budge, we can air it there, tweet it out or whatever the kids do.”
The radio wasn’t enough, there was something big happening and none of it seemed for the good. The government had to be exposed before their plans were too far in motion.
“What are you hatching?” The amusement plain on his wrinkled, old face.
“Who can we trust?” she asked, she had some people in mind.
“Some of the kids are good,” he said, “some real adversarial types. They’ll be up for it.”
“If we can’t report we might have to take the station and broadcast, regardless.”
“That’s a bit extreme, isn’t it?” he laughed.
“I don’t like where this is headed,” she said. She had witnessed coups before. This had that feeling. “Best we prepare for the worst.”
