The Journalist

Part 75: My Career Journey

Time moves, forcing me to move on. Waking up bad luck is a bad habit from when I was in school. No matter the sound of the alarm, I will stay asleep unless people wake up. Surprisingly, since returning from the Middle East, this bad habit seems to disappear. I often wake up in the morning blind.

I opened the balcony of the room while watching the golden tinge that began to fill the sky. It was the first day I appeared as a news presenter who demanded that I pay more attention to my appearance. I started preparing myself for the office. Wearing a suit and not forgetting to put a tie. I went out and locked my apartment. Before leaving, I watered some wild plants and also fed the abandoned cats. I've been doing this activity for a long time.

With my beloved big motorbike, I glided to the media office where I worked. Once there, I met So, Aoba and Eiji who had returned from Syria. They raise questions about the captivity that the extremist group has done to me. This makes me remember Ameena's situation there.

So handed me a memory stick. I plugged it into my laptop to read the file. I opened the only file stored in the flash. These are the pictures I took while I was in Syria. Yes, the night before the accident that hit Khalila, I did send So the photos stored in my camera.

I opened one of the saved photos. It was a portrait of Ameena with a grandmother she helped during the assault. I took the photo when I drove her to the shelter before we made our escape to the desert and got lost there.

"So, arigatou ...." I held both of his shoulders while shaking his body happily.

To the three of them, I could not hesitate to tell about what I experienced with Ameena during the detention of extremist groups.

"From the information I've heard, the woman detained by the group is definitely subjected to sexual harassment and violence. They select the women who will be made slaves of lust first. Women who have a beautiful face, will be a little lucky because married by the higher ups of the group to become the wife of so many. Those who refuse will be burned alive. You said they didn't touch Ameena while you were in custody, right? There is a possibility that because Ameena will be presented to their chairman," Aoba told me.

"They are really terrible! In fact, there are also auctioned with the highest offer," added Eiji.

I was glued for a moment with my eyes fixed on Ameena's photo on the laptop screen. Every time I remember Ameena, my heart feels like it's getting dozens of stabs in the same place. I also tried to find information about the head of the extremist group on the internet. Unfortunately, there are very few articles about his personal life. It says he has more than one wife, but no one has written the identity of his wife.

After work, I hurriedly opened the laptop only to look back at Ameena's photo. Suddenly, I remembered my old email that had been a means of communication between me as Khai and Ameena as Zaheera. Because the email account was deactivated, it takes time to recover.

As soon as the account was restored, I immediately wrote the message I was sending to him.

"Mina-chan, how are you?"

Just a line of simple questions I sent him. However, there was great hope that one day he could read and reply to my message. That way, I can tell he's alive.

***

Four seasons have passed. Day after day I kept getting boring. For a short time now, I have been trying to resist the longing that always strikes. Hoping for the sense of tightness to slowly vanish blushed when remembering it. However, in reality the desire to meet him is growing and passionate. Every day I could only look at the sky, whispering longings to her.

Over the past year or so, I managed to become the number one news anchor in the media of the company I work for. However, I started to be at the saturation point. I feel like this job is monotonous. I need a place that makes me more useful as a journalist. On the other hand, I need to raise a lot of money for a purpose. Exactly one year and six months, I made a big decision to stop being a news anchor. At that time, the editor-in-chief regretted my decision. He even said he was willing to take me back if I changed my mind.

From broadcast media, I moved to print and digital media. I managed to get into the largest and largest newspaper company in Japan. It's my job to write articles on the front page of the newspaper. Do not be surprised if the newspaper media is still developing in this country. This is because the number of elderly people in our country is higher than the number of young people.

In this workplace, I do not need to hunt for information because every day I have provided news that I have to write on the main page. Some news even seem only made to cover the issues that develop in the community. It's a little disappointing because my target is to be an investigative journalist capable of uncovering hidden cases.

I read the contents of the information with a pair of eyebrows that were almost united. "celebrity wedding? Why should we put wedding news on the main page? We're not a gossip media, are we?"

The editor-in-chief wrapped one hand on my shoulder. "This is the marriage of a famous celebrity with the son of one of the ministers. This news is not only read by the fathers, but also the housewives and fans of the artist."

Although I disagree, but I have no power to reject the news that I have to write. I took the information and started writing it in the form of articles ready to publish.

At nine o'clock in the evening I finished writing and the article was immediately taken to the printing press. The printing team said the newspapers circulating tomorrow morning would be doubled three times more than a typical day. It's astonishing! For the kind of news that I don't think is interesting, why should it be produced as much as possible.

Since my work was done, I decided to go home. While walking towards the parking lot, I accidentally saw the editor-in-chief talking behind a tree with the man wearing a black coat and hat. I tried to sneak around to hear their conversation.

Apparently they discussed the big news that was going to be published in a newspaper company of the capital. The news was likely about the government's collapse. From here, I realized that the article I wrote just to match the big news that will be circulating tomorrow.

I was hit for a moment. Apparently, print media companies of this size are driven by the government and used as a tool to suppress issues that blow from other mass media. This makes published newspapers can only write news according to government orders. One of them is by simply stating the success of their performance. No wonder, deviant officials will always act faster to craft their own version of truth. One of them is by controlling the mass media.

Early in the morning, I was waiting for a newspaper from the media that the man in black coat mentioned last night. Damn, the newspaper deliveryman who came to my apartment only brought dozens of newspapers from the media where I lived, where the main page was the wedding article I wrote. I had to go to the nearest magazine to hunt for the news.

I found the newspaper tucked between newspapers from my media company. I hurriedly read the front page of the newspaper. My eyes were opened for a moment. The reason is, the headlines they publish reveal about the dirty game of the national financial bureau. Even more amazing, they were able to attach data from state secret documents.

I then drove to my office. In front of the editor-in-chief, I showed the newspaper from the local news agency.

"How can a medium as big as ours only contain news about marriage that has absolutely no benefit to the public, while a small news agency is able to uncover a case of this magnitude?" I said with an annoyed face. I didn't even control my voice, so the other employees turned their heads towards us.

"Then, what's the problem?" ask the editor in chief in a cynical tone.

"We should share and follow the truth. Not making cheap news to cover it up" I replied fiercely. With glittering eyes, I said, "Will this media continue to cover up the government's mistakes?"

"There is nothing wrong and right, as long as the public believes it is a fact. If you don't like it, you can resign right now!" said the editor-in-chief.

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