civilwarnovels Chapter 193 The Impact of Google
Chapter 193 The Impact of Google
Chapter 193 The Impact of Google
June 18, 1997, is a day that will be remembered in the history of the Internet.
In retrospect, countless people describe this day as the day when the world's largest business empire took off.
At the entrance to Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California, an unusually large crowd appeared, mostly outsiders carrying photography equipment and wearing cameras on their heads.
They either whispered among themselves or looked around, trying to catch every detail about the emerging internet company.
Carl, a new reporter at that New York newspaper, quickly rose to fame by reporting on Google and the internet industry, accumulating considerable renown in the internet and investment circles in less than a year.
With a series of high-quality reports, Carl quickly rose to prominence within the company, and the newspaper gave him a dedicated column, allowing him to delve deeper into the field more freely.
For a new journalist, such a rate of growth is nothing short of miraculous. It can be said that Karl accomplished in one year what others take ten years to achieve in their careers.
"I heard a major newspaper is trying to poach you?" Riley Thompson turned to Carl beside him on the tree-lined path in the Google campus, his tone tinged with curiosity and a hint of probing.
Riley was Carl's assistant and one of his few close friends at the newspaper, and could be considered a minor benefactor in Carl's career.
It was Riley who recommended Google search engine to Carl, which led him to his first encounter with this highly promising company and sparked his idea of exploring the internet in depth.
So when he had his own column and could choose an assistant and partner, Riley was the first person he thought of.
When Carl heard Riley's question, he first smiled faintly, his gaze sweeping over the busy crowd in the park, before slowly speaking, "Several national newspapers have indeed contacted me, and the offers they made are quite good, but I'm still hesitating and haven't made a decision yet."
Riley looked visibly surprised upon hearing this. "Hesitate? Why? Going to a bigger platform means access to better resources and for more people to see your reporting. Isn't that great?"
In Riley's view, for a journalist, the words "major newspaper" almost signify the pinnacle of their career.
Higher salaries, wider influence, and better interviewing resources are all things that newspapers like theirs cannot match.
If it weren't for Carl, their newspaper wouldn't even be qualified to be at Google today.
He simply couldn't understand why Karl would hesitate about such an opportunity.
Carl shook his head slightly, a bitter smile appearing on his face. "Things aren't as simple as you think."
He stopped and turned to face Riley. "Those big newspapers offer me generous salaries, more than double what I'm making now, but they can't guarantee me a dedicated column."
"According to their rules, I would have to compete with other senior journalists for column space, and my reporting direction would be more restricted, and I wouldn't be able to focus on the internet as freely as I do now."
His current fame and influence largely depend on his pioneering work on the internet; one could say he was among the first to try something new.
At his current newspaper, his reporting style and topic selection are completely unique, and no one can take away his column space.
But once you get into a major newspaper, who will know who you are?
The area is teeming with talent; there are countless journalists who graduated from Ivy League universities, not to mention those with over a decade of experience.
Even senior colleagues with decades of experience in the workplace.
In such a competitive environment, can he retain his column position? Can he continue to report on the internet according to his own ideas? These are all unknown risks.
"Salary is important, but for me, exposure is more crucial," Carl continued, his tone resolute.
"I'm only 26 years old this year, which is the stage where I accumulate industry knowledge and build my personal brand. I can't just focus on immediate material benefits. If I give up my exclusive column for a higher salary and get caught up in indiscriminate competition, I might lose my way and end up losing more than I gain."
Riley's thoughts were completely different from Carl's. He patted Carl on the shoulder, his tone tinged with a realistic helplessness, "Carl, you're still too idealistic."
"If a major newspaper were to poach me, I would have quit long ago. Trying to balance exposure and focus with maintaining a good quality of life is no easy feat."
"Think about it carefully. Although our newspaper can guarantee your column and exposure, our influence is ultimately limited. Our readership is mostly concentrated in New York and the surrounding area, and your salary level is unlikely to see a significant breakthrough," Riley continued, his words full of realistic considerations.
"And what about major newspapers? Their readers are all over the country, and they even have a certain influence internationally. As long as they can gain a foothold there, their future development potential is limitless."
At this point, Riley's tone became heavy. "I know your dream is to win the Pulitzer Prize. But have you ever thought about how difficult this path is? The Pulitzer Prize is mostly awarded to journalists who report on current political events, in-depth social issues, or war news. We focus on corporate reporting, which is already on the fringes. Winning a prize based on reporting in this area is twice as difficult."
"Even if we did discover a truly earth-shattering news story, do you think our newspaper's influence would be enough to get you an award? Or would they even actually report it?"
Riley adjusted the backpack full of work equipment on his shoulder, a hint of helplessness and irony flashing in his eyes. "I bet my own dick that if this really happened, the first thing the newspaper owner would think of wouldn't be exposing the truth and protecting the public interest, but rather taking this scandal lead to negotiate with the company involved. He'd either demand a huge hush money or simply sell the newspaper to them at a high price to achieve his own financial freedom."
This is the unspoken rule of the news industry, especially in small and medium-sized newspapers, where ideals often cannot withstand the temptation of practical interests.
"Unless—" Riley changed the subject, staring intently at Carl, her tone tinged with a hint of probing, "you can make your own decisions and establish your own media company. That way, you can report according to your own ideas without being constrained by newspaper owners or held hostage by various interests."
Upon hearing this, Karl fell silent.
He looked down at the smooth road beneath his feet, his mind churning with various thoughts.
The idea of establishing his own media company had been lingering in his mind for a long time.
Seeing that Carl remained silent, Riley couldn't help but glance at him curiously.
When Riley saw the calm yet determined expression on Carl's face, he was taken aback, and his voice involuntarily rose a few decibels, "You—you don't actually want to start your own company, do you?"
In Riley's view, this was simply wishful thinking. He had only wanted to tell the other person that going to a major newspaper would be a better career path, but he hadn't expected that the other person would choose the most difficult one.
Karl looked up, his eyes gleaming with seriousness. "To be honest, I have had this idea, and I've considered it more than once."
Riley thought the other person was crazy. "Do you know how much money it takes to run a newspaper? At least a million dollars."
"Employee salaries, data collection fees, rent, utilities, printing costs—which of these doesn't require money? Where are you going to find so much funding?"
In the United States in 1997, a million dollars was an enormous sum of money. For a journalist of even moderate renown, raising such a huge amount of funds was simply an impossible task.
Faced with Riley's questioning, Carl appeared unusually calm. He gently shook his head and said, "Actually, we don't need that much funding."
"We can completely avoid the traditional newspaper model and become an online media company. We don't need a large number of employees, nor do we need high information gathering and printing costs. In the early stages, we can just focus on creating column content."
He further explained, "My current column focuses on the internet sector, mainly reporting on news and developments in the internet industry, and occasionally featuring interviews with internet companies. If we establish an online media company in the future, we can expand the scope of our column to cover all industries."
"The technology sector, followed by finance, energy, manufacturing, and so on. Our core focus is to provide investors with in-depth industry analysis and company insights, enabling them to gain a clearer understanding of the current state of development and investment potential of different industries and companies through our content."
"Think about it, as long as we can produce high-quality content and build our reputation, more companies will be willing to be interviewed by us, and even actively invite us to do special reports. These high-quality interview resources will further enhance our influence, attract more readers and investors, and form a virtuous cycle of content quality, reputation enhancement, resource acquisition, and further content quality improvement."
Carl's eyes gleamed with excitement, as if he could already see the company's future development blueprint. "Moreover, the cost of doing online media is extremely low. All we need is a small office, a few computers, and a small server, and we can handle all the content creation, editing, and publishing work."
Theoretically, it is entirely feasible, but Riley felt that Carl's idea was too idealistic.
Riley glanced at his watch. "Let's head to the press conference first, or we'll be late."
Riley strode out, and Carl glanced at his retreating figure before following him.
He just revealed all his ideas, which was essentially an invitation for the other person to start a business with him.
Riley understood, but he couldn't bring himself to give an answer, so he changed the subject.
Carl wasn't in a hurry. Giving up his job to start a business from scratch is something most people don't have the courage to do.
Catching up with Riley, I heard him say enviously, "I'm so envious. Their employees are so leisurely."
Carl followed Riley's gaze and looked around. The campus was now much livelier, with many Google employees strolling leisurely along the paths. Some were holding coffee cups and chatting quietly with colleagues, while others were simply lying on benches by the lawn, flipping through books. A few others sat around round tables in the rest area, eating snacks and discussing work.
He glanced at his watch; it was already 10 a.m. For most companies, at this time, employees would already be in a tense working state, sitting at their workstations handling various matters.
However, there was no tense or busy atmosphere at the Google campus. Most employees looked relaxed and acted calmly, and many were even enjoying their leisure time in various corners of the campus.
This unique office atmosphere is something you rarely see in other companies.
Just then, a brilliant idea suddenly flashed into Carl's mind, and a completely new reporting approach instantly emerged.
He felt that it would be a perfect opportunity to create an in-depth feature report focusing on Google's office environment and employee well-being.
Prior to this, all news reports about the company focused either on technological achievements and product innovation, or on the decisions and strategic plans of senior leaders. Almost no one paid attention to soft topics such as the company's office environment, employee benefits, and work atmosphere.
But Carl astutely realized that these seemingly insignificant details might be the key reason why Google was able to develop rapidly in a short period of time, attract a large number of outstanding talents, and create high-quality products.
"This is definitely a super topic that can be expanded indefinitely, and it will surely attract the attention of a large number of readers."
The target audience for such special reports includes not only investors interested in the internet industry, but also a large number of potential job seekers and working professionals.
For potential job seekers, especially graduates from universities and technical professionals in the industry, the company's office environment, benefits, and work atmosphere are the most relevant and important factors to them.
Why do people say that Google has a good reputation within Google's circle, and why can't any university or tech talent refuse Google's invitation? Isn't this the most accurate reflection of the situation?
Thinking of this, Bill's mood instantly brightened, and he looked at Riley and said, "If the business succeeds, our lives will be much more leisurely."
>