THE PEELING: Book 1
Jeremy’s Choice
The Never Stop News Studio
seemed cramped and small with all the bodies currently occupying it. The
typical skeleton crew of six or seven had swelled to at least four times that
amount in the last few hours as people crammed in front of the station’s news
desk while its two young reporters prepared to go live with the evening’s story.
The overcrowding had made Jeremy’s job a lot more difficult.
Jeremy
was a security guard for Never Stop News, responsible for keeping out anyone
not invited to be there. With the news studio and its roaming reporters
providing live content twenty-four hours a day there was always a risk that some
anarchic member of the public with a grudge and a message would try to sneak in
front of the cameras to interrupt the feed. With current events, and the
public being as frightened as they were, the risk of a security breach had
skyrocketed. People wanted answers, and when people wanted answers they
came after the Government first and the journalists a close second. With
so many people filling up the claustrophobic studio, it was extremely difficult
for Jeremy to keep his eye on everybody. It was even harder to keep his
mind on them with what was happening in the world.
There
was just one more hour to go before Jeremy was relieved by the night guard –
just one more hour. But he couldn’t deny that he dreaded staying even one minute longer. Bad things were happening, starting almost a full
week ago, and the situation didn’t seem to be getting any better. He
didn’t want to be here anymore; didn’t want to hear another bloody thing about The
Peeling.
The
studio was silent and the lights went down as the countdown till live
began. The network was currently running a pre-recorded football report
on its dedicated satellite channel and on its website, but it would turn back
to the two co-anchors in less than seven-seconds.
“Okay,
guys,” one of the production assistants said. “You’re on in three…two…”
Sarah
Lane, one of the anchors, cleared her throat and said, “Good evening, guys. My
name is Sarah Lane and I’m here to give you all the latest news. Things
are still pretty bad in the UK right now, but rest assured me and Tom will be
bringing you all of the facts for the next few hours. So get yourself a
nice hot cuppa and snuggle up on that sofa as Never Stop News will be looking
after you tonight.”
Jeremy
still struggled to accept such a casual approach to the news. Sarah and
Tom were only mid-twenties and were allowed to dress and talk as such.
Never Stop News’s whole premise was to provide the day’s events with a
laid-back and youthful approach. Their slogan was: All the news.
None of the old. Jeremy found it even more surprising that such
an approach had been successful.
Never
Stop’s hip approach to the news had gained them a younger audience unattainable
to the traditional networks. It had even started to eat into the more
mature demographics as well. It seemed that people were tired of the
stuffiness of days gone by and were happy to get the news from a bunch of
bubbly youngsters. As a consequence, the Never Stop News Corporation was
one of the fastest growing media companies in the world. Jeremy imagined
that the lovely Sarah Lane had at least a small part in that success. Her
shapely legs and curved figure, always on display beneath the glass news desk,
were a constant feature of trashy celeb magazines.
The
equally attractive, and immaculately-groomed, Tom Connors, took the lead from
Sarah and got started with the programme. “I’m Tom Connors and, as we’ve
been reporting all week, the current crisis in the UK and – we’ve now been told
– many other parts of the world, has escalated to devastating levels. It
has been reported that upwards of four-million people have been affected so far
and that number has continued to rise hour-by hour. With no
Jeremy’s Choice
The Never Stop News Studio
seemed cramped and small with all the bodies currently occupying it. The
typical skeleton crew of six or seven had swelled to at least four times that
amount in the last few hours as people crammed in front of the station’s news
desk while its two young reporters prepared to go live with the evening’s story.
The overcrowding had made Jeremy’s job a lot more difficult.
Jeremy
was a security guard for Never Stop News, responsible for keeping out anyone
not invited to be there. With the news studio and its roaming reporters
providing live content twenty-four hours a day there was always a risk that some
anarchic member of the public with a grudge and a message would try to sneak in
front of the cameras to interrupt the feed. With current events, and the
public being as frightened as they were, the risk of a security breach had
skyrocketed. People wanted answers, and when people wanted answers they
came after the Government first and the journalists a close second. With
so many people filling up the claustrophobic studio, it was extremely difficult
for Jeremy to keep his eye on everybody. It was even harder to keep his
mind on them with what was happening in the world.
There
was just one more hour to go before Jeremy was relieved by the night guard –
just one more hour. But he couldn’t deny that he dreaded staying even one minute longer. Bad things were happening, starting almost a full
week ago, and the situation didn’t seem to be getting any better. He
didn’t want to be here anymore; didn’t want to hear another bloody thing about The
Peeling.
The
studio was silent and the lights went down as the countdown till live
began. The network was currently running a pre-recorded football report
on its dedicated satellite channel and on its website, but it would turn back
to the two co-anchors in less than seven-seconds.
“Okay,
guys,” one of the production assistants said. “You’re on in three…two…”
Sarah
Lane, one of the anchors, cleared her throat and said, “Good evening, guys. My
name is Sarah Lane and I’m here to give you all the latest news. Things
are still pretty bad in the UK right now, but rest assured me and Tom will be
bringing you all of the facts for the next few hours. So get yourself a
nice hot cuppa and snuggle up on that sofa as Never Stop News will be looking
after you tonight.”
Jeremy
still struggled to accept such a casual approach to the news. Sarah and
Tom were only mid-twenties and were allowed to dress and talk as such.
Never Stop News’s whole premise was to provide the day’s events with a
laid-back and youthful approach. Their slogan was: All the news.
None of the old. Jeremy found it even more surprising that such
an approach had been successful.
Never
Stop’s hip approach to the news had gained them a younger audience unattainable
to the traditional networks. It had even started to eat into the more
mature demographics as well. It seemed that people were tired of the
stuffiness of days gone by and were happy to get the news from a bunch of
bubbly youngsters. As a consequence, the Never Stop News Corporation was
one of the fastest growing media companies in the world. Jeremy imagined
that the lovely Sarah Lane had at least a small part in that success. Her
shapely legs and curved figure, always on display beneath the glass news desk,
were a constant feature of trashy celeb magazines.
The
equally attractive, and immaculately-groomed, Tom Connors, took the lead from
Sarah and got started with the programme. “I’m Tom Connors and, as we’ve
been reporting all week, the current crisis in the UK and – we’ve now been told
– many other parts of the world, has escalated to devastating levels. It
has been reported that upwards of four-million people have been affected so far
and that number has continued to rise hour-by hour. With no
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