‘Star Trek’ Journalists, Ranked

The potential for what journalism seems to be like in Star Trek is a heady concept that’s been round so long as the sequence itself. What does reporting the news appear like in utopia? What does it imply that the Federation has its personal information networks, alongside a bunch of interstellar media organizations? What does freedom of data imply in a universe that has Starfleet? And but, we’ve truly had only a few characters seem within the sequence as totally devoted journalists and reporters.

That modified a little bit with this week’s episode of Unusual New Worlds, “What Is Starfleet?”, which, effectively… okay, yeah. It was pretty atrocious journalism. However Mynor Lüken’s Beto Ortegas joins a rarefied crew {of professional} media in Star Trek to have important roles within the sequence, for higher or worse. So talking of for higher, a minimum of, let’s check out who’s obtained their press hat on tightest within the area of boldly going.

9) Beto Ortegas

Once more, it is best to most likely simply learn our recap of “What Is Starfleet?” to see why Beto is ranked right here. There’s actually an argument to be made that not essentially all documentary filmmakers are journalists, but it surely’s fairly clear that Beto was, a minimum of, making an attempt to interact in investigative journalism in documenting life aboard Enterprise and its reflection of the Federation’s function. Emphasis on the making an attempt there, as a result of what he did actually, actually sucked!

8) Gannet

On the one hand, Gannet most likely shouldn’t be on right here. Her job as a journalist was actually deep cowl for her actual work with Starfleet Intelligence through the occasions of Enterprise‘s fourth season—work that obtained her accused by Archer of doubtless being a member of the human-supremacist group Terra Prime. On the opposite, whereas ostensibly appearing as a journalist, Gannet did each wiretap translator units at a convention to document attending delegates and, by way of Mayweather, did finally have interaction in a sexual relationship with a supply whereas purportedly engaged on a narrative in regards to the NX-01. Barely totally different realm of ethics for an intelligence operative, however positively not very best for her cowl story in journalism.

7) Natima Lang

Higher identified for her look within the Deep House 9 episode “Revenue and Loss” as a then-current professor of political ethics on Cardassia (and actually a radical member of the dissident motion fleeing the wrath of the Cardassian excessive command), Lang was beforehand a correspondent for the Cardassian Communication Service through the occupation of Bajor, working instantly on Terok Nor. Sadly, it’s throughout that project that she met and fell in love with Quark, who promptly used her press entry codes to instantly steal cash from the Cardassian authorities.

Good for Quark (though he was clearly not stealing from the Cardassian occupation forces for altruistic causes), however deeply embarrassing for Lang.

6) Neelix

Neelix briefly dabbles on this planet of impartial journalism early on in Voyager, when he makes an attempt to kickstart a day by day information program aboard the ship in “Investigations” referred to as A Briefing With Neelix. Though Neelix does try to carefully defend his laborious pivot from normal curiosity puff items to investigative journalism when he breaks the information that Tom Paris had purportedly been faraway from the ship for collaborating with the Kazon, even when pressured by Tuvok to drop his investigation, finally he does find yourself collaborating with Captain Janeway and Tuvok to permit A Briefing With Neelix for use as bait to catch the true collaborator, Michael Jonas. Are you able to be state media if the state is a single starship?

5) Sylvia Ront

Have you learnt how dangerous everybody under Sylvia Ront on this listing must be at journalism to not even get previous a personality with a handful of minutes of screentime who merely simply reads the printed information?

4) Jake Sisko

On the one hand, Jake will get away with an terrible lot of his errors as a reporter for the Federation Information Service on account of being a literal teenager on the entrance strains of one of many deadliest interstellar conflicts ever seen by the Federation. Hell, he experiences from aboard the Defiant throughout navy engagements and even willingly stays behind on the Dominion-occupied DS9 to report the tales of what’s actually happening there when the Federation is compelled to desert the station, even when his tales are finally censored from distribution by the Dominion.

Then again, child or in any other case, Jake is sort of simply not that nice at his job. For certainly one of his first tales, a couple of potential non-aggression settlement between Bajor and the Dominion, Jake sources key contextual info—that Captain Sisko, and thru him the Federation, is towards the pact—from offhand conversations together with his father, who was unaware that his son had joined the Federation Information Service. Ben shouldn’t have been discussing Starfleet issues together with his son, arguably, however Jake additionally ought to’ve reached out to his dad as commander of DS9 and Starfleet’s major consultant for remark formally, as a substitute of merely going “the supply is actually my dad.” Talking of that, what he ought to’ve completed was have the story assigned to a different reporter, given his direct private relationship to necessary figures concerned in it!

3) Marci Collins

Marci Collins—the late ’90s 3 Motion Information reporter we see in Voyager‘s Y2K-era flashback “11:59″—doesn’t actually get to do a lot aside from be a constant voice reporting on the occasions the viewers is watching unfold within the episode, as we see the story of how certainly one of Janeway’s ancestors was satisfied to shut their bookstore and make manner for the development of the Millennium Gate, the primary self-sustaining civic surroundings, a predecessor to future interstellar colonies. However the truth that the straightforward act of being a journalist who does their job utterly perfunctorily makes her the most effective Star Trek has placed on display screen speaks to the franchise’s peculiar historical past with the press.

We’re rating her above Ront just because she’s on display screen a bit extra.

2) Richter

A reporter for the Federation Information Community who seems in Picard‘s very first episode, we as an viewers are sort of meant to see Richter partially as a little bit of an antagonist: she agrees to a really strict set of situations with a purpose to get entry to interview the retired Jean-Luc, together with the stipulation that she not ask questions on why he left Starfleet. She does so anyway, resulting in Picard having an offended outburst on digital camera and storming off mid-interview, reflecting very badly on himself within the course of.

So certain, boo, the episode frames it as our beloved hero is seemingly ambushed and made to really feel dangerous by a “imply” reporter. However even placing apart whether or not or not Richter ought to’ve agreed to the interview on the idea of controlling what questions she will be able to ask, she did ask a superbly affordable query that was of appreciable public curiosity to an individual who nonetheless wielded quite a lot of political energy. She wasn’t significantly combative with him; she simply didn’t provide a softball interview both. Generally journalism is in regards to the threat of creating individuals uncomfortable by asking the proper questions!

1) Victoria Nuzé

The reporter behind the exposé “Starfleet’s Disgrace” that uncovered the misconduct (misconstrued or in any other case) by Captain Freeman aboard the Cerritos through the occasions of Decrease Decks season three’s climax, Nuzé is proven to be an extremely rigorous reporter, particularly in gentle of Captain Freeman’s panicked overreaction to her presence aboard the ship. Her intensive report is just not solely constructed on interviewing tons of sources, but additionally her getting round Freeman’s makes an attempt to blacklist sure personnel from speaking to the press (primarily Mariner) speaks to her diligence as a reporter.

Additionally, she’s actually named “Nuzé.” Discuss in regards to the excellent particular person for the job.

Need extra io9 information? Take a look at when to count on the most recent Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on film and TV, and all the things you’ll want to learn about the way forward for Doctor Who.