Chapter 45
Mr. Whitney, the editor-in-chief of The Independent, is a short, slightly fat, middle-aged man wearing glasses.
"It is a great honor to meet you, His Highness the Duke, and this beautiful lady..."
"Mr. Whitney, this is my assistant Laura. I am also a loyal reader of The Independent. I am very happy to see you today."
They met in a cafe in Canary Wharf, and the headquarters of The Independent was in an office building less than 100 meters away.
After taking their seats, Barron said to Whitney:
"Mr. Editor-in-Chief should know the purpose of our visit today. It is about a novel..."
"Yes, Your Highness the Duke, I am very interested in that novel describing the life of the British aristocracy in the old days, especially after Mrs. Bute strongly recommended it to me, saying that it was the most fascinating novel she has read in recent years. …”
"I hope it doesn't disappoint you too much, but I have every confidence in it."
Following Barron's words, he gave Wang Wanting a look, and the other party took out part of the "Downton Abbey" manuscript from the briefcase and handed it to the editor-in-chief Whitney.
Just like the last time the Viscountess read this part of the novel, in the corner of the cafe where they were, the only sound left was Whitney turning the pages of the manuscript from time to time.
After a while, Whitney let out a sigh of regret - he had finished reading the last page of the manuscript...
When she raised her head again, Whitney looked at Barron with admiration in her eyes... just like looking at a peerless beauty.
Thinking of the "good reputation" of the British corrupt country, Barron couldn't help but feel goosebumps about the editor's performance.
Fortunately, the other party was not really coming towards Barron himself. He said excitedly:
"This is really a good work, and the plot makes people addicted to it. Moreover, I believe that your noble background, Your Highness the Duke, adds most of the convincingness to the description of this work. I believe that after it is published, it will cause a sensation!"
"So you are also optimistic about the publication of this novel, right, Mr. Editor-in-Chief."
"Yes, Your Highness the Duke, I will personally facilitate this, and with the current quality of this novel, this will not be an obstacle at all."
Barron took a sip of coffee. His expression was in sharp contrast to that of editor-in-chief Whitney:
"But there is another question. Mr. Editor-in-Chief, apart from you, several other newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph, are very interested in this novel. Your newspaper does not have an advantage here. You should also know that the business conditions of your newspaper have not been very good in recent years..."
As soon as he said these words, Whitney's expression changed from the excitement just now to silence. You must know that "The Independent" itself was founded after the three editors of the original "Daily Telegraph" left. In addition, over the years, Competition, the relationship between the two parties is definitely not good, and the fact that The Independent currently ranks at the bottom among national newspapers in sales also made Whitney slightly embarrassed after Barron brought up the Daily Telegraph.
But at this time, he just regarded Barron's statement as a negotiation strategy with himself. After all, a novel is not only serialized publication, but also other promotion and subsequent publication, including copyright, and the distribution of these benefits. There is room for discussion.
"Your Highness the Duke, you can rest assured that even now, the influence of our "Independent" is still not bad, and we can give the most comprehensive promotion to this novel..."
Faced with his words, Barron remained unmoved. He shook his head slightly and said to Whitney:
"Mr. Editor-in-Chief, in fact, when I meet you this time, in addition to matters related to the novel, I am also planning to communicate with you about the future of The Independent."
"what do you mean?"
After all, he is the editor-in-chief of a major British newspaper. At first, Whitney might have been excited to see such an excellent novel as "Downton Abbey", but at this moment, he has realized something. It seems that His Highness the Duke , the purpose of this trip is not that simple.
"I have said before that the Independent has no advantage over other major national newspapers, but if I buy this newspaper, it will be completely different. I also heard that INM is preparing to sell The Independent The headquarters of the newspaper will be moved from London to Dublin, Ireland? For the "Independent", this is not a good thing. Once it leaves London and goes to Dublin, then the "Independent" may never be a mainstream newspaper in Britain. As a loyal reader of The Independent, I don’t want this to happen.”
What's going on? I first met the Duke of Devonshire just because he had a novel he wanted to publish...
But now, suddenly tell me that you want to buy the Independent directly?
Do you want the situation in life to be so exciting?
"Sorry, Your Highness the Duke, I'm afraid you need to talk to our boss about this matter. I really can't help..."
As editor-in-chief, Whitney knows the situation of her current newspaper very well.
But will it improve if we change the boss?
Others won't say it, but the Duke of Devonshire in front of me...
"It is true that I met you this time because of this novel. Mr. Editor-in-Chief, as for the purchase of "The Independent", it is not that I need you to do anything. I just want you to know that as a supporter of "The Independent", I hope to use my own power to change the status quo, which has reached a time when it needs to be changed. I hope that after buying this newspaper, I can get the support of employees like you who love this newspaper, that’s all.”
At this time, Barron gave Whitney the feeling that he was already very confident in buying the Independent. Or was there something else going on behind the scenes that he didn't know about?
"If this is really the case, then I will work hard for the rebirth of the newspaper, but there is one thing, Your Highness the Duke, I hope you will not be offended, that is, it was said that your family's financial situation is not very good, and with all due respect , "The Independent" is burdened with a lot of debt. In addition to changes, what we need more is funds..."
Barron shrugged and said nonchalantly:
"As a media person, Mr. Editor-in-Chief, you should know that news reports always need to be based on facts, but unfortunately, many reports now are not like this. Do you think our Devonshire family has a history that has lasted for hundreds of years? Is the family as bad as the reports say?"
…
Initially, Barron really just needed to choose a newspaper to publish the novel "Downton Abbey."
But when he happened to encounter the "Independent" incident, he began to change his mind and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to buy the newspaper directly.
In addition to being able to use the novel "Downton Abbey" to boost newspaper sales to a certain extent - just like when Jin Yong serialized martial arts novels in "Ming Pao" in order to save it.
In addition, being able to own a national newspaper like The Independent, even if the worst case scenario requires continuous blood transfusions, can play a huge role in expanding the family's voice and influence.
And based on the situation of "The Independent", it is not difficult to buy it now. It is just that the price needs to be negotiated.
In Barron's previous life, after several years of hard work, INM finally sold the newspapers "The Independent" and "The Sunday Independent" to a wealthy Russian businessman born in Klobo for 1 pound...
Even such a person can be sold, let alone Barron, who is the Duke of England.
Moreover, "The Independent" and "The Sunday Independent" were not the first British newspapers to be sold to each other for 1 pound. Before that, the "London Evening Standard" was also sold to the wealthy Russian businessman for 1 pound.
Some newspapers even revealed that under these 1-pound transactions, the British Media Group, which had dumped the burden, not only required the other party to bear responsibilities and debts, but also privately paid more than 10 million pounds in compensation...
The data during the new book period is related to subsequent recommendations, so follow-up reading is very important. I beg you not to keep it all the time. If you feel that it is okay, read it every day to help increase follow-up reading. Thank you very much.
