Alya was feeling pretty confident about today. She was sure that she would win the contest today. Recently, she had been watching as Aurore’s blog grew in popularity and had even started to surpass Alya’s blog in viewership. It infuriated Alya and she was stewing in jealousy for weeks, wanting to do something to make Aurore’s blog less popular. She never even posted about Ladybug herself, she only talked about the akuma attacks themselves. Aurore’s blog was so boring, so Alya couldn’t understand how she had more readers than Alya’s exciting blog. But Alya was going to do something about it.
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Alya had heard about an amazing new show where amateur bloggers could face off and have both of their blogs judged by professional journalists and bloggers to determine which of the two blogs is better. Alya was sure this would get her readers to come back. Not only would her blog be on national TV which is a great way to get her blog’s name out there, but it would also show the world that her blog is better than Aurore’s and she would get Aurore’s readers. Alya applied for the show and listed Aurore’s blog as the one she wanted to challenge. The TV network that ran the show was very interested since both blogs were about Paris’ heroes and the akumas, which would surely draw in viewers for that episode. They sent Alya an email inviting her to the show, if Aurore agreed.
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Alya went to school the next day with a fire in her eyes. She walked right up to Aurore and challenged her to the show. Aurore rolled her eyes, but agreed to the show. She knew how this would end, since Alya never fact checked anything and her blog was just full of lies. But Aurore knew this could be a good way to gain more readers and make connections with professional bloggers. Alya told the TV network that Aurore had agreed and it was decided that the episode would air live next Saturday. Mrs. Bustier’s class was excited and all agreed to meet at Nino’s house to watch the show, since they weren’t allowed to go to the studio with Alya. Marinette and her friends would also be watching from Marinette’s house to support Aurore. Soon, all anyone at the school could talk about was the show on Saturday.
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Alya stood in shock on the TV stage, and couldn’t believe what she was hearing. First the blogger panel had praised Aurore’s boring blog. They said that is was well organized, well researched, and her writing was excellent. “This is a very informative blog, and I love the interactive map of akuma battle locations. Very interesting.” Then the bloggers on the show turned to Alya’s blog and began tearing her blog apart. “What is this garbage? All of these stories are obviously false. And there are no sources listed anywhere on here for your most recent stories about this Lila Rossi! This blog doesn’t even meet the basic requirements of journalism. This is shameful work Mrs. Cesaire!” Alya stuttered, trying to defend her blog. “W-what do you mean? I do have my sources listed. I got my information straight from the primary source, from Lila herself!” One of the other judges just scoffed. “Please. Putting aside the fact that a good blogger has multiple sources for each piece to corroborate the story, this girl’s stories are obvious fabrications. For example, her story about saving Jagged Stone’s cat. It is a well known fact that Jagged Stone’s only pet is a crocodile named Fang. And even if he did have a cat, how would that cat have ended up on an airport tarmac? And even more importantly, what self respecting airport would let their security be so weak that a teen girl was able to slip through and chase said cat. And being that close to a plane with no hearing protection wouldn’t just give a person tinnitus, it would make them deaf. And that is only one of the idiotic stories on this blog.”
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This continued for several minutes, the bloggers tearing into Alya about her poor journalism skills and all Alya could do is stand in stunned silence. She had never realized how silly Lila’s stories were until it was pointed out to her, but now it was all Alya could think about. How could she have been so blind that she didn’t notice Lila lied to her? When the judges were done speaking to Alya, they didn’t even have to deliberate. They immediately declared Aurore the winner, naming her the superior blog. Everyone filtered off the stage, Alya still feeling numb to it all. She at least had the sense to congratulate and apologize to Aurore. Alya was completely devastated as she realized her blog, her pride and joy, was ruined. Sure she could fix the immediate problem. She could take down the stories Lila told her and post an apology, but in the long run she knew her blog’s reputation was ruined and there would be no recovery. It had just been torn apart on live TV, no one would ever read her blog again.
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After everything had happened, Lila left the school, going back to Italy hoping to find a new class of suckers to trick and no one in Paris heard from her again. She didn’t want to leave, but she had just been exposed as a liar on national TV. The class had all gathered to watch the show too, and were furious when they realized that the judge was right and that Lila had been lying. She had raced from Nino’s house and convinced her mother that she was to frightened of the akumas to stay in Paris anymore. Her mother believed the fake breakdown and immediately sent her back to Italy, never learning about the trouble her daughter caused in Paris.
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Alya did take down the stories on her blog and post an apology, but the damage had been done. Some loyal readers stayed around, but Alya lost a lot of readers after the show and her blog wasn’t nearly as popular anymore. Alya decided that instead of chasing viewers, which is what got her in this mess in the first place, she was going to focus on her journalism and try to improve. She made amends with Aurore and Marinette for everything that she did because of Lila, and was even helping Aurore with her blog from time to time. And Aurore was helping Alya with her fact checking. While Alya was sad about what happened, she was glad it happened. It taught her several important lessons about being a reporter and helped to improve her journalism. The lesson itself may have hurt and been embarrassing, but Alya needed it and wouldn’t change anything about what happened.
