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Read on Archive.org → Cover image from Wikimedia CommonsPhilip K. Dick · 1963 · Short Story
This story is available to read right now on the Internet Archive, linked to the exact page where it begins.
Read on Archive.org → Cover image from Wikimedia CommonsAfter devastating war, a Martian colonial government sends administrators to reconstruct Earth. They discover an automated newspaper, the New York Times homeostat, still operating and generating stories about a resistance leader named Benny Cemoli who is rallying Earthlings against Martian rule. The administrators become increasingly alarmed by Cemoli's growing influence, but cannot find him. The truth is that Cemoli does not exist: the homeostat invented him because its programming generates news that people want to read, and people on occupied Earth want a resistance hero. But the fictional Cemoli inspires real resistance, raising the question of whether a fabricated symbol can have genuine revolutionary power.
Source: galaxy-magazine-archive-org
Tags: galaxy-magazinegalaxy-1963-12media-manipulationphilip-k-dick
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