Chapter 360 — What Is a Newspaper

"It's fine, no rush, you can research it slowly," Gao Yang waved a hand. "Since we can't get it done in one step, we'll take it slowly. As for newspapers, we won't insist on a daily edition for now—we can start with block printing, one issue a week. For the territory at this stage, and for people who have never owned cheap reading material, even a newspaper issued once every ten days would carry tremendous significance."

This world likewise had the concept of a "week," but a week was not seven days. Following the ancient myth that the earth rose from the ocean within ten days, a week was fixed at ten days; thus a month of sixty days held exactly six weeks.

In Gao Yang's view, a "daily" was all very well, but if it could not be achieved at the outset, there was no need to insist on it. Traditional Ansou block printing, from carving the wax plate to making the relief clay plate, to printing the sheets and drying the ink, required at least two days or so; add to that the inexperience of a fledgling newspaper and the difficulty of guaranteeing efficiency, and a single issue would take even longer. So he simply settled on a ten-day "weekly" in accordance with this world's calendar—that too was perfectly workable.

In this era, outside of Cecil Territory, development in most regions was slow and monotonous, and there was scarcely any news worth reporting beyond the territory's borders. Moreover, given the rather rudimentary literacy of the people at present, excessively complex or abstruse newspaper content was unnecessary; and since the territory itself was only so large for the time being, the news and changes occurring within it were quite limited. A weekly was entirely reasonable.

And if some truly special news did arise, they could always put out an "extra."

"A newspaper is something that must be published over the long term, so we need to establish a dedicated department for it," Gao Yang said, seeing that Hetty already recognized the significance of newspapers, and went on, "The department that publishes the newspaper can be called a 'newspaper office.' In theory, if the office grows in the future—if private newspapers even emerge among the people—we would then need to set up a special administrative department within the Administrative Office to handle cultural and propaganda affairs. But for now, establishing a newspaper office directly under the control of the Administrative Office will suffice. The office should have editors responsible for the newspaper's content, and 'reporters' to gather the news, and also..."

Gao Yang explained the whole tangle of matters, though these things were also mentioned in the document he had given Hetty; it was simply that hearing him explain them in person made them easier for her to grasp.

"That will require people of some learning," Hetty said, rubbing the space between her brows as she began to consider candidates. "There certainly won't be such talent among the commoners who have only just learned to read and write... Those scholars that Santis brought back, though—they might be worth considering."

"Those scholars from the royal capital..." Gao Yang murmured, pondering a moment. "Speaking of which, what are they all doing now?"

"Some have already gone to teach in the schools; I hear they're doing quite well—after all, Santis screened and filtered them before they came, and they've all adapted nicely. Another group is studying runic logic under Jenny and Camille," Rebecca rattled on. "Some others are at the Magical Technology Research Institute—they're very interested in the mana engine. I told them it was 'lost ancient technology' brought out by my Ancestor, and every one of them studies it forgetting food and sleep. Besides those, there are a few who haven't been assigned yet."

The corners of Gao Yang's mouth curved upward. "That's rather good. I was worried those people from the royal capital might not adapt after coming here."

"They're adapting wonderfully," Rebecca said with a grin. "There are new things everywhere here—every one of them enough to keep them studying—and plenty of them go under the name of 'lost ancient technology.' Never mind those scholars; even the formal mages and mage apprentices are obedient enough now, terrified I won't let them into the laboratory. Of course, I think the bigger reason is that they saw with their own eyes Camille running all over the territory trailing sparks and lightning—that properly cowed them..."

Seeing the conversation about to veer off course, Gao Yang quickly reined it back. "Ahem—very well, then. Pick a few from among those royal-capital scholars to prepare the first issue of Cecil Territory's newspaper. Hetty, I'm leaving this matter to you."

Hetty put away the thick stack of documents and bowed her head deeply. "Please rest assured."