Alpha Centauri Times

From FEInfobase

The Alpha Centauri Times is one of a number of news agencies hoping to make it big after the conclusion of the Borg War.

Founding

In 2212, the many planet-wide news feeds and papers of the Alpha Centauri Colony formed one giant conglomerate with the objective of competing with the ever expanding Galactic market for news. The new ACT was one of the first galaxy-wide reporting agencies to form after the signing of the Federation charter.

For twelve years, the ACT enjoyed a healthy buisness, it wasn't until 2224 when the majority of planetery news franchises banded together to secure one of the most lucerative contracs in the galaxy - firsthand reporting on the efforts of Starfleet as they made first contact and protected the Federation's borders. Thus the Federation News Network, or FNN as most people know it, was born.

Thanks to the government sponsored Federation News Network taking the lion’s share of the media market, second string news agencies found themselves being strangled out of competition. The ACT was one of the few companies not to be absorbed into the mighty FNN empire as an affiliate and thus subject to government censorship.

The Borg War

Until the middle of the Borg War, the Alpha Centauri Times had a small, yet secure viewer ship. As the War progressed, more and more people refused to accept the carefully edited words of the FNN the ACT found its reader base growing. As one of the few independent news sources left in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants the general public turned more and more frequently to its non-partisan reporting style.

At its peak during the War, the ACT managed to secure an agreement with Starfleet to take a four years tour on one of their ships as it patrolled the frontlines. It was a step in revalidation for a government that had begun to lose the respect and trust of its people. The tour enhanced the Federation's credibility as well as the ACT's image on what was left of the Federation.

When the Borg began to make a push for the Sol system, the population of Alpha Centuri was advised to leave by any means availible to them. Most of those who left only went as far as Earth, others beleived nowhere with a significant population was safe anymore, and set a course beyond the borders of the Federation. The planet lay almost totally abandoned by the Federation for nearly two years.

Rebuilding

With the recent re-establishment of Alpha Centauri colony, the ACT has moved from its temporary headquarters in Australia to become one of the first businesses to return to Earth’s oldest colony world. Although the FNN, as well as several other independant news agencies still exist, the ACT hopes to use the clean slate the War provided to eventually overtake the FNN empire.