The Liberator
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Front page of The Liberator on January 4, NMR 2378 - the closing day of the 27th Liberationist Congress | |
| Type | Newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Liberationist Party of Namor (former, alleged) The Liberator Company |
| Editor | Bao Chi |
| Founded | NMR 2261 |
| Political alignment | Left to far-left |
| Language | Namorese, English |
| Headquarters | Namo |
| Circulation | 3,525,152 |
The Liberator (Namorese: Джикфанбо, Jikfanbo) is a major broadsheet newspaper from Namor. It is affiliated with the Liberationist Party of Namor; with a circulation of 3 million, it is one of the most widely-circulated newspapers in the country. The Liberator was founded in NMR 2261 by the Liberationist Party with Yunglang Antelope as its editor-in-chief. It was initially directed at students but eventually it drew a wide variety of readers. The paper often contained articles critical of the Republican government of Jung To, and consequently it was declared an illegal publication by the government.
The Liberator became the national "newspaper of record" once the Liberationists took over Namor and established the People's Republic. It continued to serve as a party mouthpiece and put activities of leaders, party activities and party announcements on its front page. Since the Minjuha era, the paper has become more autonomous from the party, incorporating the views of other parties. In NMR 2354, the Liberationist Party officially disowned The Liberator in compliance with the Media Independence Act (MIA), which banned political parties from owning broadsheet newspapers. Ownership of the paper was transferred to The Liberator Company, but The Liberator remains heavily influenced by the Liberationists as some of the Liberator Company's directors are members of the Liberationist Party. This has sparked controversy, as some allege that the Liberationist Party has successfully found a loophole around the Media Independence Act, while both the Liberationist Party and the Liberator Company insist that they had complied with the law.
In general, The Liberator follows a left-leaning nationalist editorial line. Because of this, it is popular among Blue Belt readers. It is often contrasted with the Mojing Sibo, which is seen as a right-leaning newspaper popular among Yellow Belt readers.
Availability
The Namorese version of The Liberator is published daily. Copies are worth 2 ramon each, and can be found in city newsstands, libraries, bookstores and other public places.
Starting NMR 2340 the English edition of The Liberator came on print. Unlike the Namorese version which is more available, the English edition is published weekly on Sundays. Copies of the English edition are worth P3 each and can be found in hotels, airports and some libraries (usually places where foreigners are more likely to visit).
Liberator Online
The Liberator launched its online edition in NMR 2338. It was in Namorese only until NMR 2342 when an English online edition was added. The English online edition is updated daily.
Overseas edition
There is a Namorese-language edition of The Liberator meant for overseas Namorese.
Social Media
The Liberator has a Twitter feed which is constantly updated. There are feeds in Namorese and English; the former is more updated than the latter.
Political position
Generally, The Liberator supports what it calls a "compatible" form of Liberationism that is meant to "change with the times, but not in the wrong direction." It no longer supports the "stray ideology" of Green Fever-era Liberationism, criticizing it as a recipe for social chaos; however, some writers in The Liberator are also critical of the present-day Liberationist Party which they see as revisionist or having deviated from Liberationism's core principles.
It opposes "uncontrolled" free market economics, favors strong government interventionism in the economy and increased social freedoms. It supports preferential attitudes towards domestic businesses over foreign businesses.
The paper is leaning towards left-wing parties such as the Liberationists, Democratic Socialists and Socialists, and endorses them in general elections. It views the New Democrats as favorable of "excessive capitalism...which is not good for our country." It sharply criticizes the People's First Coalition for being "a gang of modern-era fascists."
Gallery
- Liberatorliberation.jpg
Liberator front page on March 28, NMR 2290 (the day of the founding of the PRN). The headline reads "Celebrate Liberation!"
- Liberatorvulan.jpg
Front page on June 2, NMR 2336, covering the Luziycan killing of Namorese civilians in Vulan. The large word "Aggression!" dominates the headline.
- Liberatorbreuvi.png
English edition of The Liberator covering the death of Knights commander Breuvi Chikmurdof (found dead by Namor in NMR 2362)
Controversies
Luziyca conspiracy theories
The Liberator's coverage of Luziyca is generally negative; many stories have focused on what the paper sees as Luziycan imperialism and editorials have accused Luziyca of pursuing a "New World Order" in Esquarium. It also accuses Luziyca of covertly trying to overthrow the Namorese government to exploit the Namorese economy for its own benefit.
Although many Namorese newspapers and news sources view Luziyca negatively, critics say The Liberator companies this negative depiction of Luziyca with conspiracy theories which involve Luziyca trying to take over Namor through stirring unrest, harm Namorese people or infiltrate into the Namorese government.
During the NMR 2368 presidential election, an editorial claimed that New Democratic candidate Fu Wen is receiving money from "anonymous donors, some of whom have close or distant ties with the Luziycan government." The paper was accused by Fu's campaign organizers who threatened to sue The Liberator for libel, but The Liberator's editorial board stood by its story, saying that "there is no doubt that a Fu victory will make leaders in Luziyca shout with glee." Editor-in-chief Bao Chi later explained that "what we meant was Fu is supported by Luziyca. We're not trying to give the impression that he is an affiliate or an agent of the Luziycan government although you can see why some believe that." No legal action was taken.
In August 5, NMR 2369, The Liberator featured an article titled "Joint Luziycan-Pavonistadian plot to destroy Namor through Toloupum fever?", where it detailed an alleged Luziycan-Pavonistadian plot to decimate Namorese people with Toloupum fever, a Pavonistadian disease. The article quoted an "intelligence expert," Tonku Pingjun, who said that the Luziycan CIA is cooperating with Pavonistadian scientists to spread Toloupum fever to Namor so it may infect Namorese and wipe out the Namorese population, citing a "long...period of cooperation and working together between the intelligence agencies from Bethlehem and Pavonistadeck." The article then asserted that the Pavonistadian scientists engineering this supposed plot do not have the backing of the Pavonistadian government, and instead work for private companies. The scientists, according to the article, were "privately hired without official notice." The Pavonistadian government denied this and Luziyca didn't respond.