From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Los Angeles, one of the largest cities in North America, covers an area of ​​500 square miles (approximately 1,300 square kilometers). But in fact, the real bustling and active area of ​​the city center—

Especially Hollywood.

It's only the size of a palm.

Thirty miles, about forty-eight kilometers, is the active area of ​​the paparazzi. Within this range, they can capture all the hot spots of the entertainment industry and continuously supply the global demand for gossip.

In the summer of 2002, a website called TMZ was quietly born. At first, people didn't know what the name of this website meant. It wasn't until later that they realized that it meant the thirty-mile zone. It also became the first official gossip website in the world.

At a time when print media was still thriving and traditional media still dominated, the emergence of TMZ was undoubtedly at the forefront of the times.

Especially for the new generation of young people, they welcomed the debut of TMZ without any psychological burden.

Just right, TMZ's first news target is the most popular person among the current youth group—

Anson.

Obviously, the first collision between paparazzi and the online world proved to be a match made in heaven. The online information ocean has become the best hotbed for gossip to spread widely, and it has become famous in just a few days.

“Anson, who disappeared from the public eye, has actually been hiding in…”

At the moment, clickbait titles have not yet awakened, and people have not been involved in the era of fragmented information. The habit of opening articles and reading them in depth after seeing the headlines is still retained, so there is no need to use headlines to attract attention when writing news; but Harry still vaguely feels the password of traffic, and the not-so-thrilling headline still leaves a small tail.

At present, the summer season is in full swing, and "Spider-Man" is making great strides and continuing to create good results. Anson is the well-deserved number one hot spot in North America. According to past habits, photos of Anson's private life should be overwhelming, but this time, the gossip magazines seem unusually quiet. This abnormal scene is arousing people's curiosity.

Then.

TMZ gave the answer—

A pillow just in time for a nap!

At first, netizens didn't care. They might just glance at the news inadvertently before realizing that Anson had been in Los Angeles and appeared near the City of Sound. The slightly rough and unrestrained look also sparked countless discussions:

“Ah ah ah, Anson is so handsome like this.”

“Hormones are coming at you!”

“As expected, fashion still depends on the face. Handsome guys are just good-looking no matter what.”

“Anson with stubble! I can do it!”

“Even the good boy and good student Anson has a bad boy temperament. He is very malleable.”

Sigh, praise, and drool.

That's all, very few people pay attention to the source of the news report.

But gradually, gradually, netizens realized something was wrong.

Harry is smart and cunning, splitting a piece of news into several parts.

First, it was revealed that Anson appeared near the City of Sound, then it was revealed that Anson was suspected of visiting the City of Sound, and then it was revealed that Anson might be recording in the City of Sound.

Then it was revealed that Anson was temporarily living near the City of Sound, then it was revealed that Lily, Connor, and Miles were there, and it was speculated that the band that appeared on "The Tonight Show" might be preparing a new album.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of a suspected record company was revealed, and rumors of different record companies contacting Anson were spread. Finally, it was revealed that the band signed with Warner Records.

One, then another.

It was originally a simple piece of news, but under Harry's operation, it was forcibly turned into a TV series, with some suspense effects—

Addictive!

Now, netizens have noticed that this TMZ website is unusual. When others are still confused and can't find Anson's whereabouts, TMZ can take the lead and break exclusive news.

and!

Not only Anson's news, but also the daily life of "Bennifer" is updated. The trivial news of this most annoying/hottest couple of the year is also frantically attracting traffic, and it is continuously updated like a serial novel.

In less than a month, TMZ has become somewhat famous.

The first to notice TMZ were fellow paparazzi. They keenly sensed the movement of this website, but the reactions of the paparazzi varied.

Some people dismissed it, still believing that traditional media was a more stable "buyer"; some people scoffed at it, thinking that such a website was just a gimmick; some people carefully calculated and used TMZ as an information index, tracking exclusive news based on the website's updated information.

However, there are also a small number of people who are very interested. Like Harry and Colin, they refuse to be bound by traditional media such as "Entertainment Weekly" and believe that the online world has broader development space.

So, they also began to try cautiously—

Some news is updated on TMZ for free; some news is exchanged with TMZ in the form of barter; some news is still sold to traditional print media.

It wasn't until this time that traditional media finally began to take this website seriously.

In fact, they are also well-informed, and they noticed the existence of TMZ only slightly later than other paparazzi; but like all traditional conservative forces in the historical process ignore, disregard, and despise new things, they did not take it to heart.

In the eyes of traditional media, a small website like TMZ cannot become a force.

However, the Internet showed their speed and power.

TMZ's growth rate was beyond imagination, and finally some traditional print media tried to take the existence of TMZ seriously.

When Harry received a call from "Entertainment Weekly", he was closely watching Connor smoking at the entrance of the City of Sound. Miles and Lily were also nearby, but Anson was not seen, which made Harry a little wary.

Naturally, he didn't care about the phone call.

The voice on the other end of the phone asked about the details of the contract signed between the band and Warner Records, and how reliable the source of the news was.

Harry didn't care at all, "Are you going to reprint it or buy it out exclusively?"

"Huh?" The other end of the phone did not expect such a turn at all.

Harry repeated it again, and then explained, "It can still be bought out exclusively now for $100,000; but 'Us Weekly' is also considering an offer, and I'm not sure whether the situation will change if we continue to wait."

“If the exclusive buyout rights are sold, then subsequent reprints will not be asking us.”

“However, even if you buy it out exclusively, TMZ still reserves the right to update after twenty-four hours.”

The positions of the buyer's market and the seller's market are quietly changing.

"Entertainment Weekly" on the other end of the phone was caught off guard. This world is too unfamiliar, and they even forgot how to react.

But Harry didn't have time to continue arguing. He felt that Anson's disappearance...was a little strange, and his intuition was sounding the alarm.