The GCN (Galactic Commonwealth News)

> *"May our deeds shine brightest among the stars"*
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> **- GCN motto, first said after the Aramathi Liberation war of the second era**
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## The Galactic Commonwealth News

### Employees:

2200 - 200,000 Staff 2330 - 1,075,000 Staff

* The **GCN** is the official state media service, often said to be the 'voice of the council' due to its close association with the council. The **GCN** was originally known as the **ONN** (Ortus News Network) as it was founded before the official creation of the Commonwealth. Originally the **ONN** was entirely state funded but became largely self-sufficient, generating income from subscriptions and selling free broadcasting time to companies and film studious, this helps to maintain the image of neutrality as the news network doesn't depend on the paycheques of the state.

* While there are numerous different news outlets across the Commonwealth none come close to matching the **GCN** in terms of coverage, influence and audience; this dominance is largely attributed to the massive network the **GCN** possesses, every planet and/or colony has an official **GCN** station, which usually have their own regional sub-stations, these stations are grouped under another **GCN** station which oversees between 2-3 planets. No other news network boasts such extensive coverage though it is not uncommon for individual planets to have a more prevalent, local, news station. The **GCN** even has stations on alien planets as far as the Thradrakos (Though the employees working there aren't particularly thrilled about it and have begged for better rights with the local government on the worlds).

* With such vast coverage the **GCN** is often used to inform the citizens of the commonwealth about important events or policies and is the official emergency broadcasting network, meaning that if their is ever an event/alert of galactic scale it is the **GCN** that suspends all broadcasts.

## History

### **Foundation**

Initially created as an attempt to smooth over the integration between the individual nations; the Ortus News Network was founded on the 5th of August 2190, 8 months after the Innovation Party won the majority vote. The first **ONN HQ** was established in the Evimerian state and was technically responsible for the coverage of all news; however in it's initial years the **ONN** was almost scrapped, the individualistic nations across Ortus did not approve of a major media outlet broadcasting in what they deemed their own lands and they fought the **ONN** at every turn.

**ONN** procedures were purposefully clogged in red tape and staff who worked for **ONN** were harassed by parties who held their own national interest over the Science Council, the **ONN** could hardly act as a quality control let alone be official planetary media and everyone knew it. The project was deemed ineffective and was to be scrapped but Tesar was insistent that if any truly ambitious project could was to be achieved then the Council needed proof that they could at least achieve some degree of cooperation, if the Council couldn't implement a simple news network what hope did the expanse project have.

So in 2191 the **ONN** changed tactics; to build up a new network, it was decided, that they must first break the others down - rather than seeking to integrate each independent network into a conglomerate of stations that should abide by set policy, the **ONN** would totally replace them with their own stations - To do this the opposing stations had to be broken down, no easy feat as political entrenchment was still rife across Ortus. How the process of breaking down the opposition varied from station to station, Common strategy, essentially, was to rapidly convert oppositional station employees to the **ONN** and suddenly impose strict criteria just before important events or cultural festivals were celebrated ; then **ONN** would cover said event with the same staff who had once worked for the opposing station, this meant the writers and anchors for the event were all culturally attuned to the event which gave **ONN** the image as a multicultural institution and not one as a hostile organisation bent on assimilation. By 2195 the **ONN** was the de facto planetary media.

ONN would expand alongside humanity as it colonised new worlds and when the **OCN** was rebranded into the Commonwealth the ONN also renamed itself the **GCN**.

### Becoming the 'Official Voice' of the council

* Mentioned above was the notion that the **GCN** is the 'voice of the council' and that this is due to their close connection with the council; this is an unofficial yet widely excepted notion, the **GCN** is fundamentally a neutral and unbiased network and supposedly prides itself on this ideology. However as the borders of the Commonwealth expanded and the influx of alien migrants grew ever larger it became difficult to keep the populace correctly informed, the council were especially concerned as they knew the dangers of unregulated information becoming twisted and used to propagate lies like it had happened on Earth. So their was an ever increasing need for a unifying institution that could be trusted to convey information truthfully and to stamp down on lies, false propaganda and ideals that were deemed 'too radically opposed' to the council's own ideals. The **GCN** was the perfect instrument; all the council needed was to grant the **GCN** exclusive information from time to time, a front row seat at the events and the occasional interview with senior officials and in return the **GCN** informs the citizens of the Commonwealth about upcoming policies, events and conflicts from the rational perspective of the council.

## The Tesar Broadcast

* While the **GCN** provides many extra services the most well known is the **GCN** Tesar Broadcast; founded on 2277.01.01, the 77th consecutive year of the Innovation Party's unbroken hold in office, this broadcast was created to remind citizens of the most prominent events and important policies as these tended to get drowned out by the day-to-day happenings. This Broadcast has no set air time and time between the broadcasts can be between a few weeks to a few months or even years... Though this is becoming increasingly rare as galactic politics and conflicts continue to escalate. Unlike the main body of the **GCN**; the Tesar Broadcast is dependent on popularity ratings as it is entirely funded by the state, while the **GCN** remains self-dependent it is also expressly forbidden from making profit as it is deemed immoral to make money off an individuals basic sapient right to information and so any profit made besides 'breaking even' is put into the state or sanctioned charities. As the **GCN** was already the largest media institution in the galaxy any further extension, besides new stations on new planets, could draw unwanted ire from the public it was decided that this branch would be state funded (Even though the **GCN** technically pay for it with the money they put into the state)

* The faces of this, rating-dependent, broadcast are one Otsilo & Amelie; both anchors are Human (Which may come as a surprise given the multitude of different species living within the Commonwealth but the Tesar branch was formed before other aliens became as prominent in society). Given the infrequency of the Tesar-branch broadcasts Otsilo & Amelie are often found hosting talk shows or live debates between the broadcasts.

## Expansion

The **GCN** went from strength to strength throughout The Second Era (2200.01.01 - 2299.12.30); technological advancements and the expansion of the **OCN** provided an expanding base of the public to provide for, already loaded with credits the **ONN** / **GCN** could afford the upward costs of expansion while other news networks did not have reserves of money to back them up and could not compete with the mainstream network off the bat. While many planets would eventually have local stations roughly on par with the **ONN** / **GCN** they could not expand beyond that. The **GCN** had taken the intergalactic role already and gave planetary media institutions stiff competition; the **GCN** also afforded all the latest advancements in technology - bringing these advancements across the entire Commonwealth at once - while small networks were often behind the times in comparison.

As the second era reached midlife in 2250 it was marked with greater co-operation between the Galactic Commonwealth News and Commonwealth Propaganda Division began; as the **CPD** produced its propaganda the **GCN** would distribute it, these institutions also worked out a system of interchangeable staff and recruitment systems. An employee of the **GCN** could later switch into the **CPD**, ether as a temporary position or for a career, and likewise **CPD** staff could swap into **GCN**; bringing separate skillsets together and increasing the hold of both the **GCN** and **CPD**.

By 2270 the **GCN** boasted the majority coverage of not just the Commonwealth but also a hold in many neighbouring nations; while foreign **GCN** stations were still officially part of the larger institution though, they operated as independent sister stations.

### Staff Numbers

* 2200 - 200,000
* 2240 - 600,000
* 2270 - 900,000
* 2300 - 1,350,000

## The Troubles

The Third Era was marked with the Unbidden crisis and galactic tensions running at all time highs, these events were known as The Troubles. The first blow to the **GCN** would come from 'Bloody April' AKA the Last Light; the mass psionic attack was a harsh whiplash to the **GCN**, it found its stations the target of attack as the Zracon attack sought to cause chaos by taking over the broadcasts. Offices were destroyed and many employees injured or killed as they fled; while little life was lost, many employees couldn't return to work with the same mentality, such as Otsilo & Amelie who continued their work for a time until later resigning.

As the crisis heated up many neighbouring nations shifted into a colder diplomatic phase, resenting the influence of the Commonwealth the **GCN** (The public face of the Commonwealth) suffered; foreign outlets lost staff who ether shred this resentment or felt peer pressured into leaving, all this was accompanied with the revealing of the Unbidden whose presence degraded morale across the galaxy.

### Staff Numbers

* 2315 - 1,295,000
* 2330 - 1,075,000

## Is it all just a lie?

Beware the tool that sings your masters praise

## Section Header

### Propaganda:

The GCN is largest media network in the Commonwealth and possibly the galaxy; critics believe this has become the Council's tool of indoctrination

### Cover Ups:

The Commonwealth has had relatively few scandals outside of military concerns; so few that sceptical individuals suspect the GCN has been covering up certain events

### Suspicion:

None of the above has had any serious credence in the public eye however; no inquiries have yielded any proof of cover-ups or intention to mislead the public. The GCN's reputation remains unblemished.

* While the **GCN** remains a popular and approved network by the public; critics argue that the **GCN** is becoming more akin to a mass propaganda tool and brand the institution as 'The Will of the Commonwealth' rather than the 'Voice'. The same critics often raise concerns over how the institution operates and that they've fabricated cover-ups on behalf of the council... Is the **GCN** really telling the truth? Critics and the public have launched several inquiries into the **GCN** (Which the GCN has never contested) but to this date have found nothing of malice.
* Some view the **GCN** as an assimilator. It is known for converting other stations into its own, while it does not replace the previous workers a sentiment that the GCN was a monopoly media began to take place in some circles.

* Critics have noted that the **GCN** seems to know more than it lets on, while it usually does bring up the shady events that go on it does not do so until it seems a good time to do so; this brings to light the idea that the **GCN** handles sensitive information and dresses it nicely to minimise negative opinion of the Council.