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Spoiler Warning:Plot details, ending details, or both are in the text which follows.
“I can't trust anyone, least of all the police, and time's running out. I've got to get the one piece of evidence that will expose Starkweather without a shadow of doubt. Footage and testimony of a man who was executed by the state five hours ago...”
―The Journalist
The Journalist is a character in the Manhunt series who appears as the deuteragonist and a supporting character of Manhunt. She is a journalist and news anchor in the Carcer City News, working to expose Lionel Starkweather's involvement in the snuff film industry.
She is one of the only few characters (including Cash and the Tramp) to live through the events of Manhunt.
She is a young journalist and news anchor who lives at Central, Carcer City. By 2003, she had worked at a radio station for two years, before working at a TV station in Carcer City for three years.
At some point before 2003, her parents had died from undisclosed reasons. (As stated by her in the recorded audio.) [1]
On October 21st, 2003, more specifically 7:47 P.M, Mr. Nasty had caught The Journalist "snooping around" (potentially Valiant Video's works and Starkweather's alike) which led to a price being put on her head on Valiant-ent.tv forums, worded "a year's salary".[2] The prior shows that Starkweather was possibly aware of The Journalist before the events of Manhunt.
Events of Manhunt[]
By the time of the events of Manhunt, she has been investigating Starkweather's snuff ring operation for months and somehow discovered James Earl Cash's execution was fake in order to use him as the 'leading man' in another one of Starkweather's snuff films.
In the ending cutscene of Divided They Fall, it has been confirmed by both her and Cash that The Journalist was present at James Earl Cash's execution which could have been one of the ways The Journalist somehow discovered that the believable execution of Cash was unknowingly staged.
She started searching for clues of Cash's location intending to have him as a witness (and later inadvertently her escort) to accuse Lionel Starkweather in court. Somehow the Journalist discovered Cash's location after he was ambushed by Ramirez and the Wardogs in an apartment complex assumed to be near Darkwoods Penitentiary, where she rescued him in her red Blista Compact GPX.
The Journalist informs him that Starkweather is on to her at this point, as she knows too much about the snuff film ring. She needs to get the evidence from her apartment and leave town before she is caught by him to become one of his “extras”. Cash orders her to drive to her apartment in Central before they leave, unaware that they were watched by Starkweather himself. The corrupt Carcer City Police chief, Gary Schaffer is paid by Starkweather to send some of his department to the Journalist's apartment and Central in order to ambush and later kill/capture them. Despite the planning however, Cash and the Journalist manage to reach the apartment alive, with Cash eliminating every corrupt cop guarding the place.
Upon entering the hidden room where she stored her things, she collects the evidence she mentioned before. Cash tells her to take the evidence and get out of town though The Journalist is confused (and frankly worried/scared) on why he won't be going with her any further and Cash explains that he will hunt down Starkweather personally to “thank him for his second chance.” However, he tells her that he still relies on her as backup for taking down Starkweather in case he doesn't survive to see Starkweather himself.
As soon as Cash was brought by the Cerberus to Starkweather's Estate in Wapona Hills, the Journalist is seen outside the mansion with her news team, followed by Carcer City News helicopters, covering the story on Starkweather and the allegations of him being in a snuff film ring, which he refuses to comment on according to her. She then reports that his future in the movie industry is uncertain in the midst of this controversy before she signs off.
Later, the Journalist is covering the story in Carcer City News' studio about the death of Lionel Starkweather at the hands of (known by her) Cash, although not revealing his name and referring to him as an "unknown assailant". She reports that Starkweather and several of his hired bodyguards were found dead. She adds that police investigators have concluded from the current evidence that the deaths were a vendetta from an unknown perpetrator and have also found proof of a snuff film ring being run from the estate. Lastly, she reports that this ilicit operation is linked to CCPD police chief Gary Schaffer, whose lawyer states that he has pleaded not guilty of the accusations against him.
After Manhunt[]
The Official Manhunt website features a recorded audio of a mental hospital orderly interviewing the Journalist, who is said to have been caught wandering the streets in tears with a knife in her hand, a few weeks after exposing Starkweather's snuff film ring on the news channel. This suggests (and pretty much proves) that the Journalist had become mentally ill after publishing the story, especially after gathering all of Lionel Starkweather's films and watching James Earl Cash murder corrupt cops, more often than not murdering them in front of her.
Transcript
Unknown:
How are you feeling?
Journalist:
Leave me alone, please.
Unknown:
This is part of your treatment.
Journalist:
My treatment? Really? Good.
Unknown:
Yes the treatment, you know that.
Journalist:
It seems to be doing me a lot of good. You guys certainly know about right and wrong. Thanks.
Unknown:
Do you ever want to go back to work?
Journalist:
Yes I really want to go back to work. Find out some more lies. Are you kidding me? Y-you moron? Go back to work? You've spoken to me, you know what happened.
Unknown:
You had a break down.
Journalist:
Yes of course I had a break down, I got very scared. You know what I saw. How the hell would that make you feel? You patronising bigot. You think you can get out of bed after you’ve seen that?
Unknown:
We all saw it, on the television. You wrote the story. Why does it make you so angry?
Journalist:
Yeah, you saw it on television. I saw it, there is a difference. I saw him, you idiot. I didn't do anything wrong I-I-I didn't hurt anyone. I am not mad. I am not mad.
Unknown:
Are you feeling any calmer?
Journalist:
I feel just great, thanks.
Unknown:
You are full of hostility. Have you been sleeping?
Journalist:
No, not really. I don't trust what is going to happen. Wh-who's paying you to do this? Why are you doing this?
Unknown:
It's my job, answer the questions please. It's part of your treatment. How long have you worked at this TV station for?
Journalist:
Three years and two years at a locale station in the south before that. Look, there is nothing wrong with me. Nothing at all. I am fine. Completely normal, I just can't forget about what I saw. About prison, you know we've been over this several times before. About the fact that the government is a lie, how does that happen Mr state run flight deck doctor, How does that work, tell me that and I'll tell you what's wrong with me. You bastard, you liar, you pathetic yes man. Answer me that!
Unknown:
Do you think you need to be sedated?
Journalist:
No! I don't need sedated; don't threaten me with that crap. You know that's crap, that's your weapon isn't it? Threaten the patient 'till they tell you what you want to hear? And you call yourself a doctor? You're a witch doctor for a bunch of liars. How do you sleep at night?
Unknown:
We're not talking about me. Tell me about your parents.
Journalist:
My parents? Screw my parents, my parents are dead and that's very sad but I ain't here because of that. You know that, I'm here because it's a lie, the police, the state, the mayor all of that crap. It's a lie and you know it and you still do this. I don't want to talk about this anymore.
Unknown:
Why not?
Journalist:
Let me see. Oh yeah, because you are using it to keep me in here. Because we have been over it a thousand times, because you know what I think about it. I can't go back to work, I don't sleep anymore. I'm locked up in a madhouse. My career is screwed. I will have nightmares for the rest of my life. I used to think I was a hard reporter, some real tough bitch or something and now I'm scared of the dark. And I didn’t do a thing wrong, not a thing. What did I do wrong, to suffer this much?
Unknown:
Life isn't like that I'm afraid. Do you not think you are improving?
Journalist:
Can I go home if I say yes?
Unknown:
Unfortunately, that's not my decision I can only make recommendation. Depending upon your responses in sessions, you understand that for years I've suggestions recommendations based on whether I think you're a risk to yourself or to others, to society.
Journalist:
Society? What the hell is society? What is it? Play by the rules. Let me tell you the rules, the rules are these. I seen people kill people. Men, hack each other to death so some rich asshole can film it. Is that society? Is it? Is that who you are protecting from me? Look at me. Look out from that clipboard, you bastard, you dwarf, you awful little creep. Is that society? Are the police, society? Is prison part of this wonderful society? What about the mental health system? People are released without anyone signing the forms but somehow I ain't one of them because no one wants me for some film. Or at least they didn't. Or worse other people, their system, your society that looked after them was protecting us from. Well it didn’t protect me.
Unknown:
Do you feel you are making any progress?
Journalist:
No, I don't need to make any progress. I'm not ill like that. I just saw a dead man. Yeah very funny, I know, I saw a dead man and I'm not ill but you know it is true.
Unknown:
You where found walking the streets a couple weeks after you filed that report. In tears, with a knife. That sounds pretty ill to me.
Journalist:
Yes, I posted the story and then I couldn't sleep. I thought I could deal with things. You know, you know this crap. Does it surprise you even I could diagnose what is wrong with me post traumatic stress of whatever the hell you call in. And let's be straight about it I, I did experience trauma. You know not trauma like my cat died or I'm a fat load or any that shit. I saw a man get killed, by the state. A man get killed by the state with a priest and prison guys and in the chair. I was behind the glass. I saw him die and then I spoke to him, to Cash.
Unknown:
Did you? But no one else saw Cash or spoke to him.
Journalist:
So I'm a liar now. Am I a liar? Wh-wh-what about the police? What about the prison system? What about it? What about Starkweather? You know that is true. I had a known killer in my car, a guy I saw killed and I was speaking to him, directed by him. And he was dead, your friends the government? They killed him. How are you supposed to move on? Or deal with, or express your feelings or any of the crap about that? Huh? How? Tell me, and I will do it.
Oh let me your help out of here you little moron. You've been no help. You make it all a lot worse. You know, he was dead, he was executed, I saw it and he was in my car alive. I am not a freaking wacko, you prick. You know I'm not so why are you making me stay here?
Apparel[]
Image
File name
Description
new jou
The Journalist is a young woman with brown hair and eyes. She is wearing long black high-heels, a short black skirt, a white undershirt and a red jacket. If looked closely, her nails are panted a red/pink color.
Although the Journalist's name is never revealed, it is known that it starts with "Rob", as she tries to say it before getting cut off in the intro cutscene for Border Patrol.
The Journalist's apartment possesses pictures of cats which could hint that she is more of a cat person.
In the apartment itself shopping bags can be found which suggests that she has some addiction or fondness for shopping.
The bags inside the Journalist's bedroom have a "GASH" logo in it. "GASH" is a clothes brand in the Grand Theft Auto series, along in the Manhunt series, seeing as they take place in the same universe.
It is assumed from Cut Dialogue that the Journalist were to use a revolver at some point in Press Coverage, though this has been scrapped.
She is one of the only characters besides Cash that can use the painkillers to replenish her health.
The journalist drives a red Blista Compact GPX, a variant of the Blista Compact featured in from various Grand Theft Auto games.
The GPX was originally intended to be the final model of the standard Blista Compact in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, but was eventually redesigned.
Spoiler Warning: Plot details, ending details, or both are in the text which follows.
