Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters' Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important than they all. It is not a figure of speech, or a witty saying; it is a literal fact, .... Printing, which comes necessarily out of Writing, I say often, is equivalent to Democracy: invent Writing, Democracy is inevitable. ... Whoever can speak, speaking now to the whole nation, becomes a power, a branch of government, with inalienable weight in law-making, in all acts of authority. It matters not what rank he has, what revenues or garnitures: the requisite thing is that he have a tongue which others will listen to; this and nothing more is requisite. Carlyle (1905) pp. 349-350 The Imperium described in the Official Traveller Universe is a puzzling, inconsistent place. Vast resources, but little to rule. Millenia of history, but conservatism so deep as to defy even rudimentary progress. Wealth and commerce, side by side with poor and primitive (both backward and undeveloped) conditions. It is an oft-repeated truism that the Imperium is not a democracy, particularly of the Western quasi-capitalist bureaucratic variety stigmatized as "Yanks in Space." Yet there seems to be an unspoken assumption underlying most analysis of the Imperium that good, reliable information is readily available -- after all, there are no significant technical barriers to its collection and transmission, other than the jump-imposed limits on speed at the interstellar level. What if one of the key elements of Imperial rule is control over interstellar communications? What if the Imperium rules "the space between worlds" in part by regulating what is said there? There is considerable circumstantial evidence for formidable barriers to effective, trustworthy communications in the OTU. The state of the express boat network, compared to what is theoretically possible, has been discussed too often to need repeating; similarly, the glacially slow process of updating the two Grand Surveys stands out as anomolous. The lack of any widespread news reporting agency besides the Traveller News Service (to which I'll return in a moment) or of any sort of media-related career path in early canon, points to a significant gap in Imperial society. Let us presume that the Imperium has a vested interest in maintaining order throughout its realm, but that its resources for doing so are necessarily limited (by political realities, if not budget). As a cost effective measure, the Imperium might seek to control the perceptions of its member worlds. I suggest that, at the simplest level, only two new mechanisms are necessary: (1) All transmissions carried by Xboat must be sent in the clear; the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service guarantees their security from acceptance to delivery. The IISS also has the right to refuse any transmission for any reason, particularly if it appears to violate Imperial law. (2) Open criticism or public embarassment of the Emperor is an Imperial crime: lese majesty. Enforcement of this policy is the particular responsibility of Imperial nobles assigned to member worlds. We know that the Imperium has an Official Secrets Act (JTAS #4, p. 13; GT:RoF, p. 17), also referred to as the "Imperial secrets laws" (Adv 13, p. 11). This already restricts the ability of outside persons to "blow the whistle" on formally classified activities. We also know from canon that the Imperium bans books (Adv. 2, p. 21) and suppresses research (ibid., p. 37). What I propose is both more pervasive and more subtle: one can only criticize the policies and actions of the Imperium in a public forum if one is careful not to reflect badly on the person or institution of the Emperor himself. The fact that the person with the power to make the determination when to apply this rule is an Imperial appointee, opens it up to all sorts of local interpretations. There is no SolSec required here: the Imperium doesn't care what you say in private, or what you send in a message hand-carried by courier or delivered by mail packet. But there is essentially no right of free speech at the interstellar level, as it applies to the Imperium. If an unfavorable editorial or a factual article casting the Imperium (and thus, in theory, the Emperor) in a bad light appears in the local media, the Imperial Legate is within his rights to demand a retraction and apology, or have the perpetrators arrested for an Imperial crime and their assets seized. Similarly, an attempt to send embarassing data by express boat will first be refused, then reported to the Ministry of Justice if it continues. This wouldn't have to happen very often to put a considerable damper on both the quantity and quality of information received from other worlds. Of course it is always possible to get around such loose restrictions: code systems, anonymous samizdat, oblique references, "accidental" disclosures. But if the barriers to free exchange are high enough -- if the level of effort required is sufficient -- the spread of "harmful" information will be largely curtailed. Most of all, such methods will be uneconomic on an interstellar scale. The result is the absence of the media as an identifiable "fourth estate" in the Imperium (figuring that the other three estates are the nobility, the corporations, and the commons). Some reports do get out, but they are of questionable reliability and difficult to corroborate. This makes conditions in another system a potential unknown and places a premium both on reliable agents-in-place, and on the first-hand observations and experiences of Travellers -- very desirable traits from a roleplaying perspective. Moreover, it hampers any sort of democratic movement within the Imperium, or effective resistance to its policies. There will still be media agencies, but they will be largely restricted to four types: local news and interests, documentary teams, tabloids, and the Traveller News Service (TNS). Interstellar tabloids will still exist (are, in fact, known from canon) because they are inherently suspect: the Imperial nobility can afford to ignore attacks on the system and exposes of Imperial misdeeds just as they do Ancients impersonating Holy Elvis. As such, they serve as a placebo for the masses. Documentaries are necessarily limited in scope and distribution, but could provide a needed safety valve to prevent the worst excesses of the system; this is in essence what Dulinor attempted, on a grandiose scale. The TNS deserves special consideration as an Imperial institution: it is how the Imperial elite finds out what is really going on. Given the requirements for membership in the TAS (MCr 1 to burn, or loyal service to the Imperium), only the upper echelons of Imperial society and their associates will have routine access to the TNS as a resource. An editorial policy of skirting the limits of lese majesty, combined with powerful interests backing the Society and the obvious advantage of reliable (but closely held) information, would be sufficient to guard the TNS against most legal challenges. Since the Society is not an Imperial agency, it might even have the power to eject nobles who take their care for the Emperor's reputation too seriously. I believe this answers at least in part some of the questions raised earlier about the power of Imperial nobles on member worlds -- a note to the Parliament of Kumquat that "this continued critique of the Emperor's just expectation that you fulfill your obligations to him, through taxes, is unacceptable" can provide a pretext for intervening in local affairs for the benefit of the Imperium, without abrogating home rule provisions. It also puts a severe damper on several sorts of interstellar development and redistribution, by raising barriers to accurate decision-making. Finally, it preserves the mosaic character of the Imperium, where each world is a puzzle in itself and poses unique problems, which can be approached by the players in isolation. To illustrate how some of these concepts apply in play, here is a sample Patron encounter: -------- Patron (rebel, smuggler); requires a ship: Player's notes: Characters arriving at Lutetia (high pop world, but no base, capital, or Xboat route) are surprised to discover the people there in an uproar. Everyone on the street is talking about how high the Imperial taxes have become, and whether the Duma's ultimatim will be answered by the Imperium or lead to secession. Recognizing the party as offworlders, the locals are anxious for word on how their demands are being viewed in the rest of the subsector? They are to a one shocked and dismayed that the characters have heard nothing about the situation prior to their arrival. The party is approached by a middle-aged man, dressed conservatively in working-man's clothes, but of a finer cut and material than usual. He says that he has seen their itinerary posted at the starport for the next several jumps, and asks them to deliver a few letters and small packages for him at each stop, in return for the customary honorarium (in this case, Cr100 per item). If they agree, he offers to meet them with the items and a list of delivery instructions at a kava-shop just outside one of the starport gates on the day of their scheduled departure. Ref's notes: Upon further inquiry, no one can point to any concrete information about concerning this conflict -- the sessions of the Duma are closed, and no official announcements have been made -- yet "everyone knows" what is going on. The man will bring a small box containing data smartcards and individually sealed trideo recording chipsets (referee should determine number based character's itinerary: 3-5 cards and 1-2 chipets per world, for the next three months out), identified only by a numbered stamp and date. He provides another datacard with the promised list of delivery instructions, each item keyed to the numbered stamp on the items. Roll 1d: 1-2 The man is an avid collector of entertainment trideos. He participates in a network of like-minded individuals on other worlds in the subsector. The packages contain trideo recordings he is sending to them; the letters are requests for reciprocal favors, or similar correspondence. Hand-carrying the items is necessary due to the differing censorship, importation, and intellectual property laws among the various worlds in the exchange. Bringing the recordings through Customs is a mild form of smuggling; under the circumstances, though, the most that will happen is the items will be confiscated and destroyed. 3-4 The man is an anti-Imperial propagandist, a member of a pro- democratic movement here on Lutetia. Having succeeded in stirring up discontent through an extensive word-of-mouth campaign, his cell is attempting to send information and supporting documetaries to sympathetic news agencies on other worlds in the subsector. Should they be discovered, the contents of the messages and recordings, while not technically illegal, will certainly cast suspicion on the characters and their motives. The list of delivery instructions will be of great value to any intelligence or law enforcement agency that can obtain access to it before the characters make their deliveries. 5 As above, but the movement has ties to known terrorists (referee should pick a group active in the campaign area). The IISS Security Branch is assisting the Ministry of Justice in tracking the organization and setting it up for infiltration; they have the patron under constant surveillance without his knowledge. Once the characters have made their deliveries at the first destination, agents of Security Branch will arrest them and threaten to charge them with complicity and treason unless they use their remaining deliveries to assist Imperial agents in contacting the network. 6 As above, but the patron is aware he is being watched. The list is a decoy and none of the listed contacts exist. Security Branch will bring the characters in after they fail to make contact; whether their protestations of innocense are believed depends on their actions to that point. Subsequent events, and the truth of Lutetia's relations with the Imperium, are left to the referee. Copyright (c) 2002 by Christopher B. Thrash
Comments: thrash@io.com