World News Service

World News Service (WNS) is a MediaCorp reporting news from around world based in London, England.

Overview
WNS keeps tabs on the world, by any means possible. Newspapers and news stations around the world pay large amounts of money to receive WNS stories via the WorldSat Network. WNS has more offices than most corporations, but most of these offices are fairly small and limited in function, intended to serve only as bases of operations for the Operatives and reporters working in an area.

WNS has at least a small office in almost every major city in the world, but these are sometimes no more than rooms with a few provisions, one resident agent and a Telecom-Terminal linked to the nearest regional office. Few competitors can match WNS' information gathering capabilities, and WNS ensures that it remains at the forefront, not only through legitimate means, but also through spying, espionage, sabotage and illegal snooping of all sorts.

WNS does not run any stations of its own, choosing instead to broker its information to the highest bidder. There is no shortage of buyers, as ratings-hungry broadcasters will fork over millions for exclusive rights to an especially juicy story and the included multi-media presentation package containing WNS' videos, write-ups and commentaries.

2000s
World News Service started out as a relatively modest computer wire service delivering news-on-demand across the broadbands in the first few years of the 21st century. From that orientation came the early WNS policy of providing news to other broadcasting agencies, and not owning a broadcast channel itself. That policy went by the wayside in 2013, and WNS now has ten 24-hour satellite news channels, in addition to continuing print and computer distribution networks. WNS also continues to sell stories and news-gathering services to other broadcast and media organizations, including both Net 54 and DMS.

WNS's initial growth was slow. Other companies such as Warner-Turner's CNN and the Gannett newspaper empire controlled much of the American international news traffic, and the BBC was still the international organization of record. WNS used a combination of superb reporting and information gathering and modern cyberpunk corporate ruthlessness to consolidate its position. WNS developed and implemented the best and most modem news-gathering system on the planet, gleefully incorporating new technologies into its field ENG (electronic news gathering) and studio systems. The technological edge, along with superb talent recruitment and corporate management, allowed WNS to grow at an unprecedented rate, outstripping all other international news agencies in size and prestige by 2010. WNS still faces competition from CNN and British World Services (formerly the BBC World Service), but after a twenty-year history, it stands unchallenged as the world's top news gathering service.

Part of the reason WNS soared to the top is that it worked with new technological innovations to find ways to bring news product to market. WNS made sure that it had a strong presence in television and print news, where it acted as a content supplier for other broadcasters and printers, like a wire service. With the advent of the broadband network (the redesign of the Internet that allowed high-bandwidth data such as video-on-demand and fully interactive VR), WNS introduced the World Broadband News Network (WBNN), a fully interactive, video-on-demand news service accessible over the Internet. This still exists as a companion service to WNS's other news services.

WNS also pioneered other areas of new technologies in news gathering. While other news organizations were still using bulky, hard-to-conceal minicams in all situations, WNS was experimenting with "stealth reporters" using experimental cyberoptic cameras for times when journalists were at risk. WNS also was the first organization to outfit all field reporters with portable broadband satellite systems, so that field reporters could shoot video straight to hard disk or flash-RAM, download it to a laptop editing deck, and then transmit the finished product to the regional or home office via the satellite uplink built into the deck. This also improved WNS's ability to orchestrate and manipulate live shots, with WNS reporters able to get shots in situations where journalists from other services were simply unable to manipulate their equipment Of course, all services now use the techniques pioneered by WNS, but none of them have quite caught up yet. WNS remains one step ahead.

WNS also started experimenting with news by braindance, particularly for corporate and high-end customers who want to get the maximum exposure to an event. Several key WNS reporters have been outfitted with braindance recording gear, and are sent into hot news zones to get right into the thick of the story. Recorded braindance material is combined with editing, VR graphics, and voice-over to create what WNS terms "an immersive news experience". So far, these services are not available to the general public, but they may become available if they are successful with high-end clients, and if the distribution problems can be solved.

WNS also bolstered its position by recruiting top talent WNS has top flight reporters, writers, and producers, as well as some of the most visible international anchors in the world. All the technology in the world would have been worthless without brainy, courageous, aggressive reporters to use it, and pry themselves into situations worth covering. WNS still prides itself of the best news gathering staff in the world. The tradeoff is that executive and sales positions are not as prestigious as they are at other media corporations, and often take a back seat to the journalism jobs in terms of glamour and prestige. Consequently, recruiting the best executives is often difficult, as young executives are often attracted by the flashier but shallower news departments of DMS and Net 54, where executive opportunities are better.

WNS didn't just rely on technology and talent to secure its position. It also co-opted the new cyberpunk corporate ethic wholeheartedly, in the face of daunting opposition from established news agencies. In its first decade, WNS was not above spying, cheating, deception, espionage, and outright violence to get the best stories and throw other news agencies off the trail. WNS used these strategies overtly until it had consolidated its market share, by around 2011. Then, more concerned with image, it toned down its black ops and espionage considerably. It still engages in them, but far less often and with a far lower profile than it used to. The largest black-ops section at WNS is concerned with planting moles in other media corporations and news outfits so it can get the inside scoop on stories and features that are being developed by competitors.

2020
In 2020, WNS stands as the world's top news-gathering and broadcasting organization. In a change from its early days of operation, WNS now has eight satellite network channels of its own, as well as selling video news to other channels and distributors. The network is also still active in computer and print news, and, as well as spot news, produces features, panel shows, interview shows, specials, and other broadcast material for use on WNS channels or for sale to third parties. WNS is the news.

2070s
WNS maintained a small broadcast center in Night City in Watson's Northside Industrial District. Nellie Bly worked as anchor, while Max Jones was an investigative journalist. The center was closed down between 2074 and 2077. Jones eventually returned to the abandoned building and occupied it while he ran the independent news website NC Inquirer.

In 2077, WNS is one of the two main channels in the New United States. It has a noticeable pro-Arasaka bias, as opposed to its rival, N54, being pro-Militech. WNS holds a news program that occurs daily as well as a variety of shows such as Info Flash, Your Business is My Business, Guns and Horses, and the hit TV series Watson Whore. The local anchor of WNS Night City is Arif Iqbal.

Equipment and Resources
Dispersed among the regional offices as needed are Each regional office has two helicopters and an infirmary. Only the London, Los Angeles, New York City, Paris, Tokyo, and Seoul offices have surgical capability. WNS has access to moderate levels of military technology, including personal armor and weapons, light vehicles and aircraft.
 * 65 AV-4 Urban Assault Vehicles
 * 25 Osprey II Aircraft
 * 25 Corporate Jets
 * 5 Boeing C-25 Heavy Cargo Aircraft