The Harkom Herald

The Harkom Herald is Teel's first and only continuously released newspaper. It was founded in 23 AS by Mandres , who still serves as its editor. Under his leadership, „The Herald“ (colloquially) quickly became the premiere source of information for civilized Teel and a relevant opinion maker. However, some detractors bemoan an ongoing underrepresentation of articles focussed on Juru-related topics – a similarity to the Library of Teel, also under Mandres' tutelage. The newspaper is published bi-weekly and named after Harkom, the land the settlers called home before arriving in Teel via The Stranding.

Structure and contents

While early issues of The Harkom Herald were rather makeshift in design and production, the inclusion of pictures (with the help of woodblock printing techniques; 30 AS) ushered in a redesign that is basically in use to this day. Accordingly, the categories included in each issue usually follow a recurring pattern.
News: Information deemed to be of public interest, whether it pertains political, social or environmental topics. Referendum results are reported and often commented on
Personal stories: Portraying real citizens of Teel and / or their business ventures. Seldomly investigative in nature, as they mainly focus on citizens or organisations somewhat close to the leading editorial staff (see also: Organisation, financing and distribution)
Entertainment: Stories written to „thrill, entertain and inspire“ the population of Teel. While the editorial staff mostly elects to publish stories based on fiction or old Harkom lore, Juru legends are drawn upon from time to time as well
Reminiscence: Surviving first settlers (or in rarer cases their direct offspring) share stories, anecdotes and almost forgotten facts about Harkom
Reader's letters: Highly sought after category and an important aspect of the public discourse
Crossword puzzles: A popular pastime amongst Teelians and often used to brush up one's own vocabulary

Organisation, financing and distribution

Although The Harkom Herald is technically an independent entity, it is tightly connected to The Library of Teel, which in turn assist's the mayor's office mainly by handling Teel's administrative documents. In fact, the Library of Teel basically arose from the Herald's printery / editorial rooms and mostly functioned as its archive during its early years. Still today, the team led by Mandres uses its original premises inside the complex colloquially called „The Block“.
To a great extent, The Harkom Herald is financed through advertising. Since it is Teel's only newspaper, many business-savy citizens view ad placements as almost mandatory to make common people aware of their services. Donations and carefully selected third-party works via The Herald's printery make up other significant parts of its income.
The Harkom Herald prides itself on punctuality and is reliably delivered to households by every other wave – a casual job very popular amongst Teel's younglings, whether it is because of a decent payday or in hope of future career opportunities.

Type

Broadcasting, Newspaper / Magazine