Medias in Cyberpunk 2020

The Media in Cyberpunk 2020, one of the iconic character riles, has puzzled me for the longest time. Traditionally, I have played Solos (because who doesn't love killing everything within sight?), Fixers (loved being the boss or the guy who can get you whatever you want), Netrunners (COMPUTERS AND THE NET ARE COOL!), and Nomads (Mad Max!). Medias and Rockerboys on the other hand, not some of my favorite roles, mostly because I guess I never really understood them. I think most of that was because I had never run into any really compelling fiction describing medias and rockerboys. Until recently, that is. I have recently come across two pieces of fiction that have really shown me what a Media can be like in a dystopic, futuristic setting.

The first is only vaguely cyberpunk - it is definitely futuristic, science fiction, and dystopic, though the last part you have to dig for - and a zombie apocalypse series to boot. Seanan McGuire writing as Mira Grant, wrote a zombie apocalypse series by the name of Newsflesh that follows a pair of (adoptive) siblings who report on the news and, while following a big story, uncover some very naughty players in their government, and tell the whole world what they have been up to. I really like these books, because I'm a huge nerd (as if you hadn't figured that one out yet) and love me a good zombie tale. More importantly for all things CP2020, these books are a fantastic example of what it is Media's are doing in the grimdark almost/might-have-been - finding the truth and living long enough to share it with everybody. These are journalists that give up practically everything in search of the truth, and encouraging their readers to Rise Up! at every opportunity they can.

Transmetropolitan, on the other hand, a comic by Warren Ellis from the early to mid "naughty aughts", is an entirely different animal. It is full on a futuristic, dystopian cyberpunk tale, starring a jaded, apathetic (who is really sympathetic, but don't let on that you know) journalist in the vein of Hunter S. Thompson, except with more drugs, more artillery, and more cynicism. It really is the tale of a cyberpunk media with no messing about or digging for the similarities, and about as cynical and dark as you want to be without going so far that your players lose all hope and have to be put on suicide watch. I have yet to finish it, but am most of the way through it, and it keeps surprising me - AI helpers that are also on drugs; strippers turned medias turned nuns turned solos; and more weird, sci-fi oddities than you can shake a two headed cat at.

Both of these pieces of fiction have given me something I was missing, not only the motivation of a media, but what fuels that motivation, as well as what success and failure in a dystopic world means for the media. Yes, even as wildly different they are from each other in tone and setting, they are still both fascinating and entertaining, plus a bit educational. If you have not read either one and looking for some inspiration for your own media, take a look at these.