PLAIN TRUTH
The Plain Truth is a tabloid talk show broadcast by SSN/CAtv and hosted by former New United reporter Parker Terrell. It premiered in SEY 2944, in the wake of a widely reported upon, three-month disappearance by Terrell. After his sudden reappearance, Terrell was fired by his former employers at the New United and established Plain Truth.
The show is filmed on Terra (Terra III). It currently operates as an independent investigative unit, focusing on controversial and sensationalist Human interest and political stories. The show is often critical of the United Empire of Earth (UEE) government.
HISTORY
Parker Terrell was an investigative journalist with the New United for 11 years, where he developed a reputation for often combative political stories. He was sometimes censured by his employers for taking too much of an editorial stance in his columns, but as his articles drew in audiences, he was retained. On 19 June 2943, Terrell appeared on the debate show Showdown where he asserted on the air that the UEE used an illegal super-weapon to destroy the surface of the planet Ellis XI. He disappeared less than a week later. A missing persons report was filed on 30 June. No note was found, and Terrell's personal ship was missing from its hangar.
Terrell's ship was recovered from Vann (Croshaw III) on 10 August 2943. Terrell himself was discovered shortly after, on 16 September 2943. The Advocacy brought him in for questioning and released him on the same day. On 08 October 2943, Terrell appeared on Showdown, where he asserted that "shadowy government agents" had chased him into hiding and repeated his accusation that the UEE had tested a planet-killing weapon on Ellis XI. After he refused to recant, the New United NewsOrg chose to terminate his contract.
Terrell was hired by SSN/CAtv on 11 October 2943 to develop a news show. The first episode of Plain Truth premiered on 01 April 2944. In it, Terrell interviewed Daniel Warden, an independent courier who had been stopped by UEE Customs upon his entry in the Helios system and unlawfully detained for three weeks. During his imprisonment, Warden was questioned by Advocacy agents about people he had never met and about his activities in the Nexus system. Following Terrell's broadcast, Warden received an undisclosed amount of credits as compensation from the UEE for his detention. Since then, Plain Truth has run on a weekly basis, and has enjoyed moderate ratings.
CONTROVERSY
While Plain Truth is billed as a purely investigative journalism-centered program, there has been criticism from other news organizations that the show promotes conspiracy theories rather than fact.
In 2945, Terrell interviewed Janis Tarkis, former journalist for the Terra Gazette. Tarkis asserted that the Galactic Aid Organization (GAO), a well-known charity that supplies those in need with cybernetic and artificial organs, had sold faulty organs on the black market for profit. After the episode aired, offices of the GAO across the UEE were inundated with comms accusing them of organ harvesting. Donations sharply dropped and multiple offices were vandalized. Terrell claimed no responsibility, stating that his job was to bring the truth to people, not dictate their actions. A subsequent formal investigation into GAO revealed no wrongdoing.