Rise of the Argentine Empire

After finishing the initial work of the Mechanical Research Institute, Saint-Hesse breathed a sigh of relief and arranged a date with Elena. She had become busy again.

The number of courses at the end of the term had also decreased a lot. Although the teachers all said that the final exam was not important, Saint-Hesse, who was attending university for the second time, would not believe these teachers' nonsense. Even if there was a one percent chance, he would still do it perfectly.

Of course, after carefully consulting several senior students, he found that they were indeed not lying, so Saint-Hesse didn't care anymore.

He began his final design and review work.

Saint-Hesse planned to do something big, buy a small newspaper, and then make it bigger, to experience the feeling of being a media mogul.

This was also part of the intelligence gathering. As the saying goes, 'the greatest hiding is in plain sight'. If he could also discover a few public relations talents, it would be very helpful for future development.

Saint-Hesse was not in a hurry to join those parties. The senior students said that you just do work when you first go in.

He was not old enough now, so he would consider it when he was a junior or senior, preferably with his own funds. Otherwise, as an unknown person, doing these trivial things every day,

it would be a waste of time. It would be better to earn some money first.

It just so happened that the final exam also included field trips to the Supreme Court and the like.

So Saint-Hesse began to skip class openly, after giving Professor Purkins a heads-up.

Saint-Hesse came to the engineering department.

"A university life without skipping class is incomplete."

Saint-Hesse said to Cicero, without paying any attention to the students next to him.

"My mom said that if I skip class, my dad will break my legs."

"Okay, just kidding, I'll find you next time."

After saying goodbye to Cicero, Saint-Hesse felt a little unaccustomed to not having a lackey to boss around. He wondered how Aragon was doing in Jujuy Province.

Normally, even in war, one must have a justified reason. Even a superpower like the United States would fail if it lacked a justified reason.

A superpower like the Soviet Union in later generations was also tricked into internal disintegration by the Americans, although public opinion was not the main reason, and there were various other reasons.

Having witnessed the great power of the Internet, Saint-Hesse had already planned to start by acquiring a newspaper, first launching a war of public opinion within Argentina, influencing the Argentine people, practicing his skills, and also preventing himself from being tricked by the Americans in the future without having a voice.

No sooner said than done, Saint-Hesse picked up the old telephone next to him and dialed the number. He was now skilled at making phone calls.

"Hello, it's me, Saint-Hesse,"

"Boss, what do you want me to do?"

"Help me find information on small newspapers in the city, mainly morning newspapers. I'm planning to buy one, to see if anyone is willing to sell."

"Okay, boss, it should be completed by the morning of the day after tomorrow," Andrew cautiously gave a time.

"Okay."

After hanging up the phone, Saint-Hesse looked at his watch. It was only 1 p.m. He could read a book for a while, and go to the school in the afternoon to have a look.

Andrew was good at developing informants for intelligence gathering. Obviously, the news within the city had been collected well. He was already very strong. It should be known that this was a big city with four million people, and being able to collect effective information in just one and a half days was very strong.

Saint-Hesse nodded and continued to study some information on newspaper development, preparing in advance.

.....

July 3, Tuesday, the weather was good.

First go to the Thunder Cross branch, Andrew still stood next to him, holding a few pieces of information, which contained the information of all the newspapers in the city.

"Boss, I have already selected five small newspapers in the city that are suitable for acquisition. If they are suitable, they can be bought directly today,"

The transformation of various media in Argentina has already begun, with good and bad.

This transformation has caused some negative impacts on the social development of Argentina, and is also one of the factors leading to the national crisis. After all, the Americans can spend a lot of money to fool many Argentines.

"Boss, our country's 'Associated Press' was established in April 1945. This is our Argentine official institution, which is also responsible for the management of newspapers, and also publishes news itself."

"In the past two years, the Peron government has relaxed news control, so it is a good opportunity for us. This has led to the establishment of many small newspapers, with great competitive pressure, and many bankruptcies,"

Originally, Peron forcibly passed the new Argentine law without going through Congress, which suffered some backlash, so he had to relax some controls.

"The information I found shows that our country publishes at least 240 kinds of newspapers and 1160 kinds of periodicals, with an average of 180 copies of newspapers per thousand people.

Radio stations were established earlier, with about 110 radio stations nationwide, and 527 radios per thousand people."

This is the information that can be collected on the surface.

I didn't expect Argentina's media industry to be quite developed. When I was in Ke City, the experience was not obvious. I only read a dozen or so fixed newspapers.

"Boss, is it necessary to acquire a few radio stations? There are quite a few radio stations that are going bankrupt now," Andrew reminded Saint-Hesse, obviously he had put in a lot of effort.

"There is no need for the time being. Let's get the newspaper up and running first. As long as the newspaper can generate enough sales, we can start buying radio stations,"

Buying a radio station is indeed something that can be done, but now that the newspaper has not been established, it is not easy to get a radio station. It is better to do things one by one and develop steadily first.

"Are there any competitors for newspapers now? Which are the largest newspapers?"

Competitive product analysis is very important. If it is not done well, it will not be known who to fight at that time.

"Boss, the newspapers with the largest circulation in our Argentina now are 'The National Newspaper' and 'Clarín'. These are the two largest newspapers besides the National News Agency. The sales of other newspapers are indeed relatively small, and there are no specific sales statistics."

"By the way, boss, after some data analysis shows that some articles in 'Clarín' may have negative comments, and have some connections with some Cordoba military. Although they are neutral on the surface, they may have some opinions on Peron in secret," Andrew said an important piece of information.

"Oh? Cordoba? That's interesting. Things are getting more and more interesting,"

It seems that public opinion has already begun to break through the Peron government from the inside. It's really interesting.

"What is the name of the founder of 'Clarín'? What is his background?"

"Founded by Ernestina Herrera de Noble, its influence in our Buenos Aires Province is very amazing. According to his own admission, he is a traditional liberal and conservative person.

The weekly sales are about 60,000 copies, and other newspapers are about 40,000 copies; the monthly sales are about 300,000 copies, and the total number of views is 1.4 million people/month," Andrew reported.

"Okay, okay, awesome, it is unbelievable that no one is behind him to be able to do this so big in more than five years. It is already close to catching up with the data of 'The National Newspaper' under President Peron's nose."

"I haven't found out too much contact between him and anyone. Does the boss want to find someone to stare at him?"

"There is no need, let's develop our own strength first."

"Andrew, go with me later, let's start by looking at 'Magellan Daily' and 'La Plata Newspaper', and then go to 'Paraguay Daily', 'Atlantic Evening News', and 'New Argentina Daily' in the afternoon."

"Okay, boss,"

Saint Hérse did not read the newspapers issued by these small tabloids. He now only needed a shell, then buy it and transform it according to his own ideas. It would be even better if there were a few suitable talents to execute it.

The city's newspaper offices were not scattered, mostly located in the main urban area, where dozens of newspaper offices, large and small, were distributed.

After looking around, he excluded the "Paraguay Daily" and "La Plata News". They really had nothing but the name of a newspaper. The "Paraguay Daily" had only 4 people including the boss, and the "La Plata News" was even more outrageous with only 3 people.

They were reporters, editors, and distributors, but it was unknown how capable they were.

Although the "Magellan Daily" had a scale of ten people and established three or four departments, Saint Hérse simply gave up directly. Being a reporter and news also required physical work.

The "La Plata Daily" had more than a dozen people, but they all looked too passionate and the asking price was too high, so he felt it was not cost-effective and gave up.

The "New Argentina Daily" was located near the academy area. Unexpectedly, it was nearby. At first glance, it had a scale of more than twenty people, which was good. The first impression was okay, although the rented place was a bit broken.

Andrew went to find the newspaper owner. Saint Hérse looked at it and found it quite satisfactory. There were four or five small rooms, as well as its own printing press, editorial department, business department, advertising department, and printing department.

A young man walked over side by side with Andrew.

"Rupert, this is my boss, Mr. Saint Hérse."

"Hello, Mr. Saint Hérse, I am Rupert Abraham, the current owner of the 'New Argentina Daily'."

"Hello, at what price do you plan to transfer your newspaper?" Saint Hérse didn't want to waste time and went straight to the point.

"Um, oh, okay, I plan to sell it for 4 million pesos. Of course, our equipment purchase price has cost at least, it's hard to say the funds.

Do you need me to briefly introduce our newspaper?"

4 million pesos is 80,000 US dollars, which is acceptable and does not exceed the budget. The main reason is that the newspaper has a relatively complete staff and does not need to poach people from other newspapers.

"Yes, please give a brief introduction."

"Our newspaper currently has a total of 21 people, including 2 reporters, 6 editors, 4 in the printing department, 3 in the advertising department, 2 in the business department, and 4 in the administrative department. Last month's circulation was 8,000 copies, with a price of 45 pesos per copy. At most, the circulation exceeded 15,000 copies.

Last month's advertising revenue was 80,000 pesos."

Good heavens, this is still a daily newspaper, with a daily sales of less than 300 copies. It is obviously losing money badly, not counting labor costs and rental costs. No wonder it is being sold. The monthly loss is estimated to be at least 100,000 pesos.

In fact, the valuable thing is these equipment. The personnel are not very valuable, but they are very necessary.

"It's a bit too expensive. Your monthly loss is at least 100,000 pesos. I'm essentially losing a lot as soon as I buy it. At least other newspapers can still make some money." Saint Hérse shook his head, preparing to bargain.

"Mr. Saint Hérse, it's really not expensive. You should know that no newspaper in the city with more than 20 people is below 4 million pesos..."

This Rupert was also a poor man. After his father died, he took over the newspaper. His mother was also sick. As a result, his level was not very good, and it fell from its peak. The circulation this month was actually less than 4,000, and some employees had already left. In order to treat his mother, he decided to sell the newspaper.

"Although I am sorry for your mother's illness, your asking price is indeed unreasonable. 3.2 million pesos is my bottom line." Saint Hérse issued an ultimatum.

If this guy was unwilling to sell, he planned to go to the next "Atlantic Daily" to take a look. After all, he was not a fool.

"Deal, Mr. Saint Hérse, but I need cash and do not accept loans."

In fact, his bottom line was 3 million pesos, which was already much better. Rupert secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"No problem, then it's happily decided. When can we sign the contract?"

"We can do it now. I'll go find a lawyer. Happy cooperation."

Rupert was also fortunate to get rid of a burden. Through a whole year of newspaper operation,

he felt that he really didn't have the talent to run a newspaper media, but lost a lot of money instead.

Even though this newspaper was founded by his father, most of the employees actually had no opinion on him, but times have changed, and the old methods are no longer feasible.

His statement about his mother's illness was not an excuse, of course, it was not that serious. It is worth mentioning that his family's real estate is estimated to exceed 10 million pesos, and they are not short of money.

The two first signed the contract, made the payment, and a series of operations. Tomorrow, this newspaper would belong to Saint Hérse.

He planned to thoroughly transform and renovate this newspaper, upgrade the information, increase the quantity without increasing the price,

delete unnecessary sections, add interesting news, attract new customers, and survive first.

Increase the coverage of football events and celebrity gossip, change the big opening to a small opening, and set the price lower than other newspapers. Finally, the goal is to achieve the lowest price in the country.

The ultimate plan is to acquire a paper mill and a printing factory in the city, specializing in the printing of the "New Argentina Daily". He felt that since there was no problem with the content, to strive for a larger circulation, the price must be affordable so that everyone can afford it.

Let's start with the newspaper pricing first. His goal is to eventually reach a price of 10 pesos per newspaper, lower than the 30-50 pesos of other small newspapers. The most powerful "Herald" is also 20 pesos per copy, and the "Nation" is 30 pesos, which gives Saint Hérse room to maneuver.

For the subsequent price war, Saint Hérse has stored enough funds.

The first step is to start with adapting the content, first removing the unwelcome content from the newspaper and replacing it with news that everyone likes to see.

For example, Argentine football is already very popular, so football event coverage is indispensable, as well as Argentine movie stars who are also very popular, and introductions to foreign tourism.

Establish an important foundation, improve the content, and first increase sales.

When Saint Hérse was signing the contract to hand over the newspaper, most of the newspaper employees were already a little uneasy, fearing that the newspaper would lay off employees and lose their jobs.

After all, if a small newspaper really can't survive, it's normal to go bankrupt and lay off employees. The "New Argentina Daily" has been losing money for several months in a row, and many employees have left.

Even if the Argentine government forces high salaries, if you really can't do it, the boss will go bankrupt, and he can't do anything about it.

Therefore, the first thing to do after completing the acquisition is to stabilize the morale of the troops. Fortunately, there are not many people in the New Argentina Daily. The last thing Rupert did in the newspaper was to have all the newspaper employees enter the small conference room for a meeting.

He clapped his hands, causing everyone's eyes to be cast on him.

"Hello everyone, this is your new boss from now on, Saint Hérse Cohen."