Read All About It: The Lucky Clover Gazette

Among the many new innovations in Tears of the Kingdom, Hyrule now has a newspaper of record: the Lucky Clover Gazette, the kingdom’s new daily (weekly? hourly? Who knows?) newspaper.

Spoiler Warning:
This feature discusses certain sidequests, secondary characters, and minor story spoilers from Tears of the Kingdom. Continue reading at your own discretion if you have not finished the game and are trying to avoid spoilers.

Among many other side quests in the game, Link finds himself helping to get this unique little news startup off the ground. Working with senior reporter Penn under instructions from editor-in-chief Traysi, Link travels between the stables, listens to what the locals have to say about certain strange happenings related to the Upheaval, and investigates them.

The Lucky Clover side quest was one that had special meaning for me. After all, I’m a freelance writer and editor in real life. And before going freelance, I was a journalist for several local newspapers near where I live. And one of them, I think, bore somewhat of a resemblance to the Lucky Clover Gazette.

It’s worth noting that as I write this, Poynter has just published an article on how Tears of the Kingdom, and the recently released Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 from Insomniac Games, both include journalism and newsgathering as side quests.

Because of the winter blast that hit Rito Village and the Tabantha Region, the Rito Stable is now unsafe to use for its primary purpose of stabling horses. The stable has thus been repurposed as the Gazette’s new (albeit frigid) headquarters. Whether this is meant to be a subtle joke about how journalists are expected to endure less-than-optimal working conditions is subject to debate.

Let’s take a look at the Lucky Clover’s editorial board. The editor-in-chief is Traysi, known as one of Hyrule’s preeminent gossip hounds and rumormongers. In Breath of the Wild, Traysi’s journals show up at the stables, each with assorted rumors about landmarks, side quests, and shrines. This background would suggest that Traysi would be eager to jump on any crazy rumor and run with it. But Traysi seemed to be a fair enough editor; she paired Link, the cub reporter, up with Penn, the seasoned pro.

Penn seems to be a combination of senior reporter and assistant/associate editor. After all, he’s the only other staff member at the Lucky Clover that we know of until Link comes along. And having a staffer who can fly will save you some money on transportation costs.

Working with Penn, the player (through Link) visits the stables, talks to the locals about the many strange things they’ve been noticing or experiencing, and goes to check those things out. Penn is convinced that investigating these stories will help solve the mystery of what has happened to Zelda, since a lot of the rumors involve her in some way.

Penn seems to be a capable and professional newsman–er, newsbird. He has a network of sources, mainly the little chirping birds (a quite literal take on “a little bird told me”). He seems to be fairly smart and up-to-date when it comes to hunting down stories that seemed to be a little too outrageous to be true. Princess Zelda’s being held captive by the Yiga Clan? Nope, just the Yiga Clan up to their usual tricks. A talking Cucco can forecast the future? Again, the Yiga Clan. Zelda’s riding around the Faron Woods on a giant tusked beast? Well, maybe — Zelda was just tending to the gentle Dondons in the sanctuary she just helped found. A ghost in a wishing well near the Highland Stable? Just an aspiring singer doing her vocal warmups.

We encounter a few NPCs in the game who wish they could be journalists. And it appears a couple of them join the paper as stringers.

Link receives a certain number of Rupees for each story completed, and that amount increases over time. Link’s pay raises were pretty generous, I thought (not to be cynical, but let’s face it, decent pay raises for journos are pretty rare in real life.) And the bonuses of the Froggy Armor set pieces are a very useful perk.

Exactly where and how the newspaper is printed or otherwise transmitted is subject to debate. We know that there is a physical paper, since we see quite a few Hyruleans reading up on the day’s news at the stables and in the emergency shelter. And the news seems to get published almost as soon as it happens; one time, I had Link visit a stable right after completing the Goron City main quest, and people were immediately reading up on how the marbled rock roast was all gone. Is there a printing press run by Sheikah (or Zonai) technology? Can you also get the news beamed directly to your Sheikah Slate or Purah Pad? What style guide does the paper use? If you’re a professional editor, you’re probably familiar with back-and-forth debates over newspapers’ and publishing houses’ style guides.

Imagine where the Lucky Clover Gazette could go after the game’s events are all over. Perhaps there would be bureau offices in the major towns, like Kakariko Village, Gerudo Town, and Goron City (a fireproof edition might be needed there) and at Hyrule Castle. The paper would have to cover local politics like the Hateno Village mayoral “election” (I got my fill of local politics in my own journalism days, thank you very much).

Not only that, but the paper would need a science correspondent to talk about all the Zonai technology, a real estate writer to talk about the Hudson Construction building boom, a fashion writer to talk about the mushroom-print craze sweeping Hateno Village, and an arts and music critic to praise (or roast) the Stable Trotters’ latest show.

And maybe Zelda could come aboard as a columnist or guest editor once everything’s settled down.

But first things first: move the Gazette out of Rito Stable and into someplace with central heating!