Smart Girl by L.J. Breedlove

Author:L.J. Breedlove
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: political fiction, Portland protests, university newsroom, campus television station, multicultural diverse, critical race theory CRT, new adult suspense
Publisher: L.J. Breedlove
Published: 2022-06-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

5:30 P.M., THURSDAY, Jan. 13, 2022, EWN newsroom — Ryan hung out a bit after the editor’s meeting. The newsroom seemed tense, not adrenaline rushed, but upset. He didn’t have to guess much to know it was about Will. And maybe Blair?

He went into his office to get some paperwork done, but he left the door open. It took less than 10 minutes before Ben was in the guest chair with the door shut. “I’m worried,” he said.

“About?”

“Blair, actually. Will is pissing me off, but I’m more worried about what Blair might be having to do to keep the peace. Such as it is,” he said.

Ryan looked at Ben thoughtfully. Ben Waters was the grandson of the Yakama Tribal Council president. During much of his childhood he had ridden along with his grandfather meeting the needs of the tribe. For a young man raised by a single father with the assistance of a single grandfather, he might have a wider perspective on caring for people than one would guess. It was easy to forget that.

“Bianca is worried too,” Ben added. “She had lunch with Blair. She said Blair was too quiet, too stressed. Unhappy, but faking it. But that’s what Blair does, isn’t it? She fakes it.”

Ryan chewed his lip. “Got any ideas on how to help?”

“Get Will back to the doctor?” Ben said. “And maybe you should talk to Blair? Because I have a question for you. If Blair crashes under the weight of placating Will, what happens to EWN? She carries this place on her shoulders. Will is the EIC, but day-to-day, it’s Blair who runs things.”

“And that’s how it was with me and Emily,” Ryan said. “How it works, actually. EIC faces outward and looks at big picture things. The news editor focuses on content.”

Ben nodded. He’d been Ryan’s first hire, practically, so he’d worked with Emily too. “But Will is basically a reporter at heart, and he understands coverage,” Ben countered. “The outreach? Bianca is still doing a lot of that. Big picture? We all work well together, and we’ve been through serious shit. So, Will can coast on all that. And he does. That’s not me being hard on him, it’s just what it is.”

Ryan gave a half-shrug of agreement. They’d lucked out this year. They had an inexperienced editor with a very young crew. But the staff had pulled together, and they functioned well as a team. And that wasn’t always the case in a newsroom — most certainly had not always been the case at EWN. He remembered a term when the EIC and the sports editor were feuding, and he winced. Everyone took sides. About the only thing they agreed on was getting news out on time. There had even been two end-of-term parties — sports supporters had one, the EIC had a separate one. Everyone went away on winter break, and when they came back it was as if nobody remembered what the fight had even been about. They all shrugged and went back to work.

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