The Nightly News – Issue 1
As a broadcast journalist with a conscience ‘The Nightly News’ is refreshing. Many of my colleagues sensationalise tragic events, not pausing for a second to think about the effect it could have on those involved.
Only last week I was reporting on a story about an old couple found dead in their home. Two weeks passed before they were discovered, one of the bodies was in such a bad state of decomposition it’s head had come off.
The reader that afternoon sounded like she was getting off on the fact!
The Nightly News
Don’t get me wrong, it’s an important point, but the way it had been dressed up made it sound like somebody had lobbed the head off with an axe.
The point of the story was that nobody cared about the couples existence. It seems the old man had a heart attack and fell to the ground. His wife had curled up next to him on the floor and she too died. Not one neighbour in the village noticed something was wrong. In the end it was the postman who alerted the police.
NONE of the facts were reported that day, just speculation over how the body had lost its head.
‘The Nightly News’ begins with a number of broadcast journalists being assasinated.
Why?
Because the BJ’s in question ruined their executioners lives with misleading reports.
Issue 1 sets the scene. It outlines how ’The First Church of the Brotherhood of the Voice’ is formed. Along the way you choose whether to read ‘fictional’ stats on issues like globalization and America’s news corporations. If you decide not to it doesn’t spoil the storyline, although there’s some interesting details about media consolidation:
“Three quarters of global spending on advertising ends up in the pockets of twenty media companies”
I usually find ‘computer generated’ artwork a bit of a headache but in this instance it really works and provokes thought.
Writer and artist (which is a rare thing these days) Jonathan Hickman claims he’s not political. I claim the same thing and I’m a journalist. He is political but don’t let that put you off. I found ‘The Nightly News’ a riveting read and can’t wait for the next issue.
I’m now deciding whether to take part in the competition. The two winners will be brought to life in the comic. They’ll then be killed.
