The Rebel Faction

"The Holonet is great, it really is. Anyone can pull a bunch of asinine, random accusations out of thin air and get a billion people to read them."
-Theren Gevel

I've been around a long time, and I've seen a lot of things in my time. It's been my duty to report on the tragedies that strike at us every day.

Lately, though, I've found that there is to much shit on the Holonet to make it worthwhile. After all, who can possible hear the words of one man over the government-funded propaganda warfare that rages presently?

The New Order has proven that they are masters at the art of playing with words. With his silver tounge and quick wit, Theren Gevel can make anyone believe that the rape and murder of a virgin girl in front of ten thousand witnessess never happened. Or, at least, had nothing to do with the Empire.

And the Coalition (I must mention them, because we're all aware of the Empire's latest target) tries. They really do.

But they are no match for the Empire, as is proven by their absence from the holonet battleground of late. The New Order and their hounds at INS, it seems, have finally scored a victory over their enemies.

And so it has come down to this: syndicated collumns. It was Theren Gevel that once said the holonet is great, because anyone can get on it and make a billion people read whatever they post.

As has become the case with the flurry of pieces regarding riots (or lack thereof) on the planet Rodia. Rodia, of course, is the home of the Rodians, notoriously stereotyped for their roles as pirates and bounty hunters.

In the last several days, several personalities have emerged on the holonet, each with their own unique perspective on the supposed riots. And their views, surprisingly enough, are in line with either the New Order, or the Coalition.

The neutrality that the media once exhibited is long gone (but then, it's been gone since the last VNN report. And don't we all wish for Victor Barell back?).

Instead, we have biased reporters slandering the Empire or the Coalition, depending on who signs their pay check. Take the recent article by a reporter calling himself D. Kil.

More than fifteen hundred Rodians were injured or killed by "Police Keeping Forces" in the riots just this week.
When will these mindless attacks by the Coalition cease?

This reporter hopes it is soon.

Note the "quotes" surrounding the Police Keeping Forces. The obvious implication is that these Police Forces are less true authorities than militant murderers.

Note also the second line, referring to "mindless attacks by the Coalition". Hardly the sort of thing you would see in your average independent news source!

Independent sources cannot afford to swing one way or the other, simply because they rely on the readers to fund them.

Not so with D. Kil. Obviousily, he has no need to worry about his next meal. The Empire has his ass covered, after all.

Though, I must say I am slightly disapointed. I had thought the Empire much more subtle than this. Perhaps the INS Corrospondent we've been hearing so much from is taking a much-needed vacation.

The other great thing about the holonet, which Mr. Gevel failed to mention, is that it doesn't matter who you really are. Anyone can make up whatever name they like and slap it on their silly articles.

And once it reaches the Holonet, there's literally no way to know whether the writer is real, or a farbrication.

A perfect example comes from a Cren calling himself Frem'ra. Note the similarities between his words, and the words spoken by Jan Dondanda and other representives of the Galactic Coalition:

Mr. Kil, my name is indead Frem'ra. And if you speak out against injustice and indecency, then how come no one has ever heard of you before now, when this is a galaxy full of injustice. Also, how come you never reported on The New Order's assault on Talus and Tralus, where they murdered numerous citizens, and declared themselves in control of the two worlds? How can you support your claim of being an independant reporter when you only speak out against the Galactic Coalition, and when you do, you only speak out against riots that you made up? The Galactic Coalition has brainwashed no one. They do not use propoganda, they tell the citizens the truth.

Obviously, this 'Frem'ra' is not the neutralist he believes himself to be. But again, what does neutrality matter when you're recieving a big fat bonus from the leaders of the Coalition?

Unbiased news sources have no place in our galaxy, it seems.

Let me leave you with one last piece, this one again from D. Kil, that I find particularly ammusing:

It is my job to report events as they happen. It is also my job to remain neutral when it comes to politics... I will speak out against a government who brainwashes it's citizens... You are living in a dream world, mister Frem'ra, a dream world created for you by the propaganda machine which is the Coalition... Certainly we can all see how very neutral you are in all this. You have been brainwashed by a dictating regime of facists.

Yes, D. Kil (if that is your real name). You certainly do a fine job of "remaining neutral when it comes to politics".