The Shipping News (introduction)

Post date: Sep 25, 2014 1:53:17 AM

The Shipping News is Freeport's newspaper, run by owner, publisher, and editor-in-chief C.Q. Calame. The paper operates out of a large building near the Docks, and claims credit for popularizing the printing press and inventing (or at least perfecting) movable type. Since its founding by Calame's father nearly 50 years ago, the Shipping News has grown from a single sheet issued weekly into a full-fledged daily newspaper, with sections including classified, society, and current events, as well as Calame's regular column, "This Week in Freeport."

Many stories tend towards the sensational, but the paper is considered far more reliable than the rumormongers and criers that proceeded it. Calame takes his responsibility to inform the public quite seriously, so the paper strives to get its facts straight--and will print a retraction if they get details wrong.

During the Succession Riots a few years ago, the Shipping News was burned by a mob but was quickly rebuilt thanks to donations from all over the city. The paper is now better than ever, and in thanks for the local support, Calame started a special column, "Tales of the Phoenix," in which one of his reporters writes about an ordinary person and their life. These heartrending stories have become wildly popular among the city's noblewomen. (Thankfully, the paper was spared by the Great Green Fire two years later.)

From time to time during the Winds of Freeport campaign, background information and flavor will be presented as articles from the Shipping News. Those pieces (or summaries of them) will be posted here.