Chapter 669: Chapter 669: Back and Forth (Edited)
"Bedtime Tidings! That name doesn't seem suitable for a newspaper," Harry said, puzzled.
In his mind, newspaper names should be "The Magical World's Prophet" or "The Magical World Daily"; "Bedtime Tidings" had no relation to a newspaper.
"Exactly, it doesn't have to look like a newspaper," Tom replied with a smile, nodding his head. Then, he looked at the people present in the room and posed a question, "When do you all read newspapers?"
Krum scratched his head. "Before and after Quidditch matches? I like reading news about the teams, analysis, and comments after the games."
Harry felt a bit uncomfortable because he didn't usually read newspapers; he only occasionally glanced at the major news along with his friends.
Unlike the boys, Hermione and Luna used to read the newspaper during breakfast when the Daily Prophet was delivered. It was the most relaxed time of the day.
"So," Tom waved his hand, "you're unlikely to read the school newspaper, right?"
The four present before Tom lowered their heads somewhat embarrassedly. They reflected for a moment and realized that, indeed, they wouldn't read the Hogwarts newspaper.
That was natural. Students were already accustomed to reading the Daily Prophet for important events. Competing directly in the news field with that newspaper wouldn't be a smart decision, as it had been leading for a long time and would be difficult to surpass.
So, what to do? Change direction. It's like a 1000-meter race where the Daily Prophet has already covered 900 meters. So, Tom could step out and shout, "Stop! I'm going to compete in long jump with you!" That way, he could make his leading competitor return to the starting line and compete from there.
"I want to create a newspaper that's not so serious, something easy to digest. It would be great if every student could read it before bedtime, like an entertainment magazine," Tom explained his idea slowly.
People's energy is limited, so the amount of information each individual can absorb daily is also limited. Young wizards had to attend classes during the day and complete their assignments at night. How could they dedicate much time to reading newspapers like retirees did? The only time they could read would be during breakfast. As for the rest of the day, doesn't wizard's chess sound good? Isn't it fun to play cards? Why waste your leisure time reading the newspaper?
And breakfast time was already occupied by the Daily Prophet. To compete, Harry's newspaper needed to find another suitable time.
Bedtime was a perfect choice. At Hogwarts, without mobile phones, that bedtime was quite "empty." At most, students chatted with their roommates. Tom was aiming for that time.
And since it was something to read before bed, it obviously shouldn't be too serious. It would be ideal if it had a touch of entertainment, and that was the essence of "Bedtime Tidings" – light and humorous.
"Oh," they all nodded in unison, feeling that Tom's idea made sense.
"Alright, we'll call our newspaper 'Bedtime Tidings'," Harry agreed with Tom's idea.
Then, after some discussion, they decided to publish a weekly edition of the newspaper, placing it in the common rooms of each house for students to pick up. Regarding the content of the newspaper, it would consist of five sections: Internal Notices, Internal News, Political Affairs Commentary, Free Contributions, and Advertising. Yes, they decided to include advertisements on the last page of the newspaper.
The first two sections served the purpose of the school newspaper. In them, the editorial team would publish notices from the school, the house, and even comments about the teaching and administrative staff at Hogwarts. Teachers could also publicly praise or reprimand someone through these sections.
The "Free Contributions" section was the place where young wizards at Hogwarts could submit their articles. Tom believed that many of them would have something to say before or after Quidditch matches. By involving them in the newspaper, not only would the content be enriched, but also their sense of belonging would be strengthened, thus attracting more students to read "Bedtime Tidings." The advertising revenue on the bulletin board would be converted into fees for contributors, further incentivizing them to submit more articles.
The "Political Affairs Commentary" section was the space Tom left for Harry to express his personal opinions. For example, to change the impression many had of Hagrid, Harry could write an article like "Are Half-Giants Really Cruel? Where Does That Claim Come From?" or "Do You Like Big Creatures? Start with the Three-Headed Dog." This way, he could challenge stereotypes and change perceptions.
Once a consensus was reached, preparations for the first issue of "Bedtime Tidings" began. With Luna's help, the newspaper planning proceeded smoothly, and overall, there weren't many mistakes. But what pleasantly surprised them was that both Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout expressed their support in unique ways. Professor McGonagall advanced the next Hogsmeade opening to Harry so that he could obtain some exclusive information for the "Internal News" section. Professor Sprout wrote an informative article teaching students how to distinguish poisonous mushrooms. Even Professor Flitwick, who accidentally learned what they were doing, contributed a short article about the use and method for casting the Expulso spell.
When the caretaker, Filch, heard the news, he was even happier and wrote a lengthy article of several thousand words about the dire consequences of breaking school rules, along with providing an extremely long list of banned items that he hoped Harry could publish in his newspaper. Seeing Filch's long and stinking contribution, Harry resolutely decided to place it on the last page of the newspaper, just before the advertisements.
As for the advertisements, Fred and George became the exclusive sponsors of "Bedtime Tidings," and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products filled the entire last page. However, they had a small request: in the version that the professors would read, they needed to remove those ads.
Harry readily agreed.
The Hogwarts newspaper, "Bedtime Tidings," gradually headed toward success, and now they only had to wait until the weekend to see the reaction.
However, perhaps Harry had used up all his luck in organizing the newspaper because his Occlumency training with Snape was terrible.
After two long hours of training, the only conclusion Harry and Snape reached was that the other was a fool. The lesson was utterly useless.
"You're the least talented student I've ever met. If it weren't for Dumbledore's order, I wouldn't allow you to take a single step in here," Snape said, pointing to the door of his office, "You may go! I hope that the next time you come, you have improved even a little, though I have my doubts about that."
Harry's face turned pale with anger. He was convinced Snape was the worst teacher; even a troll would be more competent than him. During those two hours, Snape had repeatedly invaded his mind, leading him to suspect that Snape had a personal vendetta against him.
In any case, he didn't feel like he had made any progress at all, and that seemed to be a conclusion that both Harry and Snape had arrived at.
Chapter 670: Chapter 670: Explosion (Edited)
The hustle and bustle made time fly by quickly. In the blink of an eye, the weekend had arrived. The eagerly anticipated school newspaper, "Bedtime Tidings," would be presented to the public for the first time.
The newspaper was printed by the editorial team of "Bedtime Tidings" and then delivered to the common rooms of each house and the professors' offices by house-elves. Because house-elves went unnoticed, the appearance of the newspapers had a mysterious touch.
Harry, as the editor-in-chief of "Bedtime Tidings," didn't notice when the house-elves appeared. As usual, he got up and found a stack of "Bedtime Tidings" on the common room table.
"Merlin's beard! Did they really manage to do it?" Ron knew that Harry had been working on the newspaper with Luna Lovegood lately, and he had been helping with some matters, even submitting an article! However, when the newspaper appeared in front of him, he still felt a strong sense of disbelief.
The newspaper looked too real, too serious!
Ron had imagined that the newspaper would be like a simple questionnaire, but the "Bedtime Tidings" that Harry had created closely resembled "The Prophet." It was impressive.
"Let me see where my article is..." After the brief surprise, Ron began to search the newspaper that Harry had founded. After a short while, he found his article "The Glorious and Eternal Arsenal of the Chudley Cannons! A Spotlight!" occupying a whole page, which made him very happy.
Following his article was Harry's political commentary.
"The need to oversee the media? Well, this goes straight to Rita Skeeter!" Ron immediately noticed the hidden meaning in Harry's article.
"We believe this behavior is unacceptable; I won't name the person who made these statements, although she is a special correspondent for The Prophet." Ron pointed out one of the sentences and said, "This is really interesting! This could become your famous quote."
After reading it, Ron also became a bit worried, "Aren't you afraid Rita will cause you trouble?"
"I have nothing to fear," Harry shook his head, "Debate creates enthusiasm, and most importantly, the people who matter to me won't change their opinion of me because of a few words in The Prophet."
Ron shrugged without giving a response. He thought that in a few days, there would probably be a confrontation between The Prophet and "Bedtime Tidings" over Rita Skeeter and Harry Potter.
But what did it matter?
Ron thought Harry was right. Rita's influence, however great, was limited to the newspaper. Those people Harry valued the most, like himself, wouldn't be influenced by what was written in the newspaper.
Furthermore, in recent years, Rita Skeeter had made irresponsible comments and offended many people. Did she really think she had no enemies? People simply didn't have a way to voice their discontent.
The content of the first edition of "Bedtime Tidings" wasn't too extensive, and Ron soon reached the end of the newspaper. He looked at Filch's article and muttered, "Harry, you're very considerate, as if you were afraid we wouldn't have enough toilet paper."
Harry laughed, and Ron flipped to the advertisements at the back, enjoying looking at all the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products.
"Oh, right," Harry slapped his forehead. Seeing the ads, he remembered that he forgot to pay the authors of the articles. He took out two sickles from his wallet and gave them to Ron.
"This is your fee for the article," Harry said somewhat embarrassed.
Ron: ???
He looked at the two coins in his hand, unable to believe it.
"What's this?"
"You published an article in 'Bedtime Tidings,' so you'll receive a share of the advertising revenue. Of course, at the moment, it's a bit low, but I think..."
"I didn't mean that!" Ron noticed that Harry seemed to misunderstand something and hurried to clarify, "Just that I never imagined writing could make money!"
"It's motivation for creativity!" Harry extended his hands. "Without enough motivation, how do we expect people to submit their contributions?"
Ron held the two sickles he had earned, with a happy smile.
"In that case, I'll write more."
...
The newspaper "Bedtime Tidings" gradually spread throughout Hogwarts. Young wizards started flipping through this new publication, and many showed genuine interest in its content.
However, despite their interest, "Bedtime Tidings" remained simply a newspaper with limited influence within Hogwarts.
But an unexpected event changed everything, making it known throughout the wizarding world.
That event was Rita Skeeter.
The wizarding world was a small circle, and sooner or later, Rita found Harry's article and erupted in fury.
In her life, she had attacked many people, but almost no one dared to respond to her, let alone counter her in a newspaper. The Prophet reporter felt that she needed to give Harry a little lesson to make him understand that after being criticized by Rita Skeeter, the only appropriate action was reflection.
So the day after seeing the article, a scathing response appeared in The Prophet. In that article, Rita Skeeter exposed the fact that Harry was editing a newspaper at Hogwarts and considered it the most ridiculous and absurd publication she had ever seen, apart from "The Quibbler." Dumbledore had made a great mistake by entrusting such a solemn and sacred task to a young child. She then argued that supervising the media was sacrilege against freedom, something not even dark wizards had dared to do, and so on.
It couldn't be denied that Rita was a master of the pen. In the last line of the article, she wrote a stunning statement: "When a stone is thrown among a pack of dogs, if one of them barks, it must surely be the one that was hit."
Rita's counterattack was sharp and piercing, but it also had an objective effect: it made more people aware of the newspaper "Bedtime Tidings" at Hogwarts.
Many adult wizards sent letters to their children and nieces and nephews at Hogwarts, asking them to send the school newspaper so they could take a look. They were very curious about who the "dog" that "barked" after being hit by the stone was.
Suddenly, the first edition of "Bedtime Tidings" that Harry had created became a highly sought-after item. At the same time, many people who had been slandered by Rita Skeeter also wrote to the editorial team of "Bedtime Tidings," expressing their support.
For a moment, the world of media seemed to be stirred up and boiling over.
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