This story, when responsibly managed, has the potential to become a defining moment for our brand.With the correct tone and narrative control, we are positioned to lead national coverage with integrity, gravitas, and authority. Our messaging will center on themes of resilience, media responsibility, and the psychology of obsession.
Next Steps:
Legal:Please vet all scripts and segment plans for exposure, liability, and risk mitigation.
News Director:Maintain internal information lockdown. Only designated producers are cleared to brief team members.
Mallory’s Team:Prepare a secure, pre-taped interview addressing her experience with dignity and strength.
Marketing/PR:Begin drafting key art and teaser language around a limited series initiative:Obsession: In the Public Eye.
We must strike a careful balance between journalistic integrity and public interest. This is not exploitation—it’s elevation. And it begins now.
Let’s proceed with focus and unity.
—Guy
Chapter
Four
FLINT
It might be just after eleven, but the newsroom was never truly quiet in a twenty-four seven world. The nightly news had wrapped its second segment fifteen minutes earlier with Mallory McBryan sitting in her spot at the desk. Authoritative, dependable, and utterly unflappable, she projected everything the viewers needed to trust her as the person conveying the news.
Delivering facts, not opinion.
We could practically make that her damn tagline. That said, five minutes after she left with a security guard and an FBI agent to take her home, I was on the elevator back to the executive floor. Unlike the newsroom, this floor was hushed with the quiet of the staff that clocked out at five.
Only the door to The Sports Lounge was open. Guy Reardon was clearly waiting for me, along with Ty Brolin, a senior producer, and Gary Walker from legal. Unsurprisingly, the big screen was illuminated with Mallory’s name on it—a new logo. More for his “prestige” docuseries?
“Drink?” Ty asked from where he was already adding two fingers of whiskey to his glass. He wasn’t the only one partaking.
“Fine,” I said, because arguing over the choice of alcohol was not why I came up here. “Are you seriously debating logos already?” The fact it had come up during the earlier meeting had been insulting enough. “Have you forgotten a little thing like journalistic ethics? She’s not a pawn.”
“Flint,” Guy practically drawled my name like he possessed a molasses-coated accent rather than being the bright boy from Portland. “I get it. Ihearyou. Ethics. Responsibility. ‘We can’t exploit her trauma.’ Sure. Sounds great. But let’s not kid ourselves—people are going towantthis story. They’re gonnadiefor it. You think they're tuning in for another debate recap or some puff piece on community gardens? No. They wantdanger with good lighting. They want Mallory’s face and a man in the shadows. They want the monster—and they want thegirl he chose."
He paced the room slowly, his gaze on the windows that overlooked Chicago. The skyline was a series of contrasting shadows and light. Everything about his movements was downright fucking predatory.
“And we’vegot it. Right here.Gift wrapped.You think I don’t care about her? Of course I do. That’s whywe’llcontrol the story. You think she’s safer in a world where this leaks and every bottom-feeder outlet runs wild with garbage? We take ownership. We shape it. Wemonetizeit—yes—but weprotectit too."
