Interstellar News Network

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Interstellar News Network
INN.jpg
Corporation Profile
LeadershipCEO
Product(s)News services

The ComStar-owned Interstellar News Network (INN) is the premier Inner Sphere-spanning news service during the Word of Blake's Jihad and the era of the Republic of the Sphere.

Overview[edit]

Still trying to combat its tainted public relations reputation in the wake of Operation SCORPION and hoping to distance itself from the Word of Blake in the months immediately prior to the Jihad in 3067, the secular ComStar founded the Interstellar News Network. Unlike the Order's own ComStar News Bureau, the INN was intended to be a wholly independent and free HPG-transmitted news service, supported financially solely through advertising and relying heavily upon the services of local freelance reporters.[1] [2]

Created with the proclaimed hope that it would "heal the wounds of strife and draw upon the common bonds of humanity", from a humble start of just servicing the handful of worlds surrounding Tukayyid, the INN fulfilled ComStar's plans of becoming an Inner Sphere-spanning network during the ongoing maelstrom of the Jihad.[1] [2] INN became a premier source of information during the conflict, most notably its series of well-received Jihad Hot Spots reports.

INN was one of the more notable purchasers of Cal-Boeing of Dorwinion's 3061 Sky Eye News Helicopter. A licensing deal between the INN and Cal-Boeing enabled the compact helicopter's advanced camera and communication arrays direct upload capabilities with ComStar's HPG network, providing near-seamless transmission of its material to off-world stations.[3]

Slogans[edit]

"Always first on the scene."
  — Slogan used in 3132[4]

Known INN reporters and staff[edit]

Michael Bosworth
Rachel Francis
Bertram Habeas
Nigel Holmgren
Myra Kellison (through Tharkad Media Associates)
Terek Ko, engineer[5]
Moore Kramer[6][7]
Stefan Marshall, political analyst[8]
Jenna Martins[9][10]
Farouk O'Reilly
Ian Pierson[8]
Sandra Raines
Tad Silverstein
James Smith[11]
Orson Tanaka
Ernest Wick[12]

Notes[edit]

Through the LinkNet website, INN was the default in-universe source of information for the MechWarrior: Dark Age game, and was also referenced on the info and background cards included with the game pieces. Similarly, the news section on the BattleCorps website is presented as an INN newsreel.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Field Manual: Updates, p. 81 "ComStar - Interstellar News Network"
  2. 2.0 2.1 Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 210 "ComStar - Corporations of ComStar - Interstellar News Network"
  3. Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex, p. 74 "Sky Eye News Helicopter"
  4. Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN, p. 312, "3132 Solaris VII Championships Season Review (Part 7)"
  5. Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN, p. 212-213, "Message from Achernar"
  6. Dawn of the Jihad, Page 85
  7. Blake Ascending, Page 85
  8. 8.0 8.1 Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN, p. 134, "Pierson’s Round Table: War Drums?"
  9. Dawn of the Jihad, Pages 90-91
  10. Blake Ascending, Pages 90-91
  11. Jihad Hot Spots: 3072, P. 71-72
  12. Shrapnel Issue #5 - Voices of the Sphere: What Would Have Been and What Is Now

Bibliography[edit]