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Originally Posted by dragoon500ly
Anybody else have this happen or any thoughts on how to game this one?
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Lee,
I use this in my game, which is set in Vancouver, BC. The local government is based on a university campus, which has restored limited TV broadcasts, including a nightly news programme. The players therefore have a (volunteer) CBC news team following them around in a van as they do their thing. They are not strictly embedded and at this point are familiar enough to fade into the woodwork most of the time but they're there if you look.
Many of my NPCs are based on real-life people, so the main female reporter is a composite based on two real (local) reporters/media types I know personally. I hope I've managed to avoid the usual cliched whipping-boy stereotypes about the media. The lead reporter is smokin' hot (it's part of the job), is professional and personable, and keeps her politics and opinions to herself. I imagine fantasies involving this NPC do not involve extrajudicial killing.
Certainly the media could be a pain in the ass but the PCs have made an effort to befriend and cultivate the lead reporter, and in return she respects their feelings (not to mention OPSEC) and doesn't get in their faces just to be annoying. More importantly, the team has gained a valuable channel for disseminating information to a wider community, and this has helped reconstruction efforts considerably. Of course, the community leadership is backing the players (so far) and thus exert influence on editorial decisions, but people do understand there still is a war on and so the mood is more of cooperation than provocation. As long as the PCs don't do anything wrong, they'll be portrayed as white knights. If they don't, things could change.
Tony