Hello all. I have been in Deadend for a long time now and most of that time I have been with the DE Daily newspaper IC. I really like the group and its given me the opportunity to engage in many interesting roleplay scenes and to meet several good friends. As I am a Journalism Major and writer in RL it is fun to play a reporter IC.

Lately things have been a bit slow at the DE Daily. Just recently I have found my character in the position of Assistant Editor and so I thought this might be a good time to throw some ideas I have for the Daily out there for consideration and discussion. I humbly ask you all to consider the following:

1. It has been pointed out to me that the DE Daily is a misnomer because it is not a daily paper. It is unrealistic to consider the Daily ever will literally be a daily paper however I have treated some group notices and announcements as if they were in the DE Daily so my character knows about certain information and events IC. I was wondering if it might be possibile to either format some notices so they are kind of like DE Daily headlines or maybe make it a interval replacement for the actual newspaper object. In other words instead of waiting till we have enough stories to actually put together a news paper, why not just release stories on their own in the form of a notice, maybe with a notecard attachment. That way stories are still timely and on recent happenings when they are put out for people to read.

2. One thing that I do plan to do is focus more on generating roleplay rather than sending people out to actually write a story. People come on SL and roleplay because they want to have fun. Believe me its not alot of fun to go around with a deadline breathing down your neck. As such I think the Daily should continue to just let its reporters find and work on stories at their discretion but if they want an assignment I am building a list of possible story ideas. Whenever I hear a rumor or a potential tip on a possible story I write it down in a notecard. That way I have some ideas already written down when I need them. Also if a reporter asks me for an assignment and I give them one, my main goal would be to get them involved in a roleplay scene and thus generate more roleplay storylines and encourage character development. If they write a story on their experience that is fine but its not required. I just want to generate rp so people can have fun.

3. I have long operated under the belief that in general Kidnap Roleplay Sims like Deadend, Sinners Rest, and others exist in the same rp universe. In short if my character goes to Sinners Rest she is still the same character as the one in Deadend with the same experiences. I extend this to others and so I will recognize characters I know from Deadend when I see them in Sinners Rest or another sim unless they say that their character is different (then it leads to a mistaken identity scenario which is fun). Recently I have spoken with multiple individuals and found that others share this belief that all these Kidnap RP sims exist in the same universe. With that said it seems only logical to expand DE Daily coverage to include certain major events that happen in these sims. For example a story on the recent Earthquake and rebuilding efforts in Sinners Rest. Think of it like how several RL newspapers have a section for World News outside their home country (though in this case most of these sims hypothetically would exist in the same IC country).

Those are my main points. I am currently looking to hire active and enthusiastic roleplayers on at the Daily. We are always looking for reporters. No past Journalism experience is required, just a desire to have fun and get involved. One of the perks of being a Reporter in Deadend is that there are few places you cant go and few people you cant talk to because after all you are a journalist, its your job to stick your nose where it doesn't belong. ^_^