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Polygon posts ad/re-worded press release as 'News' & deletes user comments [Removed]

S

see5harp

Member
I wish gaming journalism would take that press release and turn it into a dissection of how sad it is to be a young man getting bombarded with ads and the effect that has on obesity rates. Only then will I consider Polygon the next level in gaming journalism.
 
K

KingHippo1967

Member
Sorry for being "that guy" but if someone's giving away a free avatar don't you think it's a good thing to let people who might be interested in it know about it?

I know saying "lol journalism" is the in thing right now and these articles maybe take things a little too far but part of the story here is "there's a free Halo 4 avatar available if you enter this contest". Personally, I'm happy to be told that because it means they've helped me get something for free when I otherwise wouldn't have known.

It seems some are too keen to get the flaming torches and pitchforks out now because of recent events. Chill out a little.

If you're going to start claiming that reporting on a press release isn't news then maybe you shouldn't read any newspaper ever because that's sort of how some stories have to work. They're called press releases because they're made to be reported in the press.
 
K

kadotsu

Banned
That whole "Polygon" project has been the best large scale satire take on new media since "All I want for Christmas is a PSP". Tip of the hat to MS for funding it.
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
Sup guys.

This where we talk about the future of games journalism?

Polygon
ijoxpmvHd1rSd.PNG


RockstarGames.com
iJQOMXoQbHRHG.PNG


CTRL-C, CTRL-V, edit... aaand done.
 
C

chrisgrant

Member
Guys, there's no controversy here. We decided to run a post, via EGM, that Pizza Hut was offering a prize to UK customers. Readers like to know when they can win free stuff, so we ran a post. There is no advertorial here since we weren't paid to put the piece up. Perhaps you didn't think the piece was newsworthy – well, that's fine. I encourage you to let us know at feedback@polygon.com and we'll use that feedback to influence our editorial direction.

What we won't allow is to have a bunch of people invade the comments and accuse us of wrongdoing. It's off-topic, and it's not helpful. If you want to believe there's a controversy behind everything, that's fine. We have a public ethics statement and we stick by it. If that's not enough for you to believe, then I'm sorry.

In short, we welcome your feedback, but in an appropriate venue. The comments thread of an article isn't that venue.
 
E

Empty

Member
press release regurgitation is standard everywhere whatever you cover.

but this is literally an advertisement for halo and pizza hut being presented as news, microsoft's own marketing words and images presented as if they're that of an independent editor, and the attitude that uncritically lets pr control what they're saying on the site is the root of this entire controversy. poor form by the self dubbed best of the best people on their gamechanging site.
 
E

EatinOlives

Member
More fuel to the fire.

If only this whole debacle would actually result in changes, though. All this is going to get us is a whole lot of fuck all.
 
B

Blueblur1

Member
Well, that was quick. Time to delete my bookmarks and stick with Giant Bomb. It's a shame that they're the only ones with the common sense to not "report" garbage.
 
D

Darklord

Banned
I'd have said maybe they did just post it because of user interest but delete posts? Sounds dodgy as hell at that point.
 
Surface of Me

Surface of Me

I'm not an NPC. And neither are we.
I really don't see the issue here, besides the fact that Polygon said they wouldn't do this, but people seem upset that this is on any website. Would you guys prefer having to go directly to publishers sites to find out any official press release statements?
 
D

DaBuddaDa

Member
I love how these young, cocksure gaming journalists pontificate about their profession, speak of "raising the bar," as if they are a bunch of seasoned, mature professionals, but when the rubber hits the road they fall flat on their face immediately in the most gross and unprofessional ways possible.
 
S

see5harp

Member
While I don't love the fact that news blogs basically repost press releases with snarky headlines, I don't know what people expect from a news section on a gaming website.
 
B

border

Member
How is this less newsworthy than any other dumb videogame-retailer tie-in?

At the end of the day, they're telling readers how to get a free avatar outfit. Completely garbage and not worth my time, but for people who care about that stuff I suppose it matters.

If Pizza Hut were giving away free multiplayer maps or something more substantial, would it then cease to be "advertorial" and suddenly be legitimate news?
 
D

Dennis

Banned
Polygon said:
Christopher Grant


Please read our Community Guidelines here – we reserve every right to delete comments that aren't helpful or on-topic. If you want to criticize us, you're welcome to send us an email to feedback@polygon.com. If you want to make a new account – which all the detractors here have done – and come here to rile up negativity, we're going to stop you.

We're closing this thread for now and will reconsider opening it later.
Click to expand...

Where no one else can see it......

The game changer turned out to be censorship.
 
Z

Zaph

Member
chrisgrant said:
Guys, there's no controversy here. We decided to run a post, via EGM, that Pizza Hut was offering a prize to UK customers. Readers like to know when they can win free stuff, so we ran a post. There is no advertorial here since we weren't paid to put the piece up. Perhaps you didn't think the piece was newsworthy – well, that's fine. I encourage you to let us know at feedback@polygon.com and we'll use that feedback to influence our editorial direction.

What we won't allow is to have a bunch of people invade the comments and accuse us of wrongdoing. It's off-topic, and it's not helpful. If you want to believe there's a controversy behind everything, that's fine. We have a public ethics statement and we stick by it. If that's not enough for you to believe, then I'm sorry.

In short, we welcome your feedback, but in an appropriate venue. The comments thread of an article isn't that venue.
Click to expand...
So why change the image if you were fine with the 'story'?
 
Y

Yami

Member
KingHippo1967 said:
Sorry for being "that guy" but if someone's giving away a free avatar don't you think it's a good thing to let people who might be interested in it know about it?

I know saying "lol journalism" is the in thing right now and these articles maybe take things a little too far but part of the story here is "there's a free Halo 4 avatar available if you enter this contest". Personally, I'm happy to be told that because it means they've helped me get something for free when I otherwise wouldn't have known.

It seems some are too keen to get the flaming torches and pitchforks out now because of recent events. Chill out a little.

If you're going to start claiming that reporting on a press release isn't news then maybe you shouldn't read any newspaper ever because that's sort of how some stories work.
Click to expand...

It's not that. The news story is fine. It's just the way it's worded, (well in my eyes), it just seems like lifeless, inane, PR-driven babble that anyone could have shitted out in 10 minutes.

As I posted on the previous page:

I wouldn't have minded the post so much if the author decided to inject some personality, flavour and even a teeeeeny little bit of flair into it. It's like they really could not be bothered. Instead, it just reads like a load of inane-PR-babble. Do this, do that.
Click to expand...

Why isn't there more personality involved? I've seen Emily's writing, she can do better than that, and the way it reads like PR-drivel is probably why people are up in arms.

I'd have taken the article, ran with what the audience would like to hear, offer some opinion, a bit of humour, and not make it sound like PR-churned out mush.
 
F

Forkball

Member
chrisgrant said:
Guys, there's no controversy here. We decided to run a post, via EGM, that Pizza Hut was offering a prize to UK customers. Readers like to know when they can win free stuff, so we ran a post. There is no advertorial here since we weren't paid to put the piece up. Perhaps you didn't think the piece was newsworthy – well, that's fine. I encourage you to let us know at feedback@polygon.com and we'll use that feedback to influence our editorial direction.

What we won't allow is to have a bunch of people invade the comments and accuse us of wrongdoing. It's off-topic, and it's not helpful. If you want to believe there's a controversy behind everything, that's fine. We have a public ethics statement and we stick by it. If that's not enough for you to believe, then I'm sorry.

In short, we welcome your feedback, but in an appropriate venue. The comments thread of an article isn't that venue.
Click to expand...
Why'd you change the picture?
 
F

Fersis

It is illegal to Tag Fish in Tag Fishing Sanctuaries by law 38.36 of the GAF Wildlife Act
Delusibeta said:
Q1YB3.png


And now they've locked the thread. Classy.

It's a pretty damn blatant violation of the ethics statement, and makes aforementioned statement redundant.
Click to expand...
dave is ok is a gaffer i believe.

NO ONE CANT STOP THE GAF
 
T

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Deadstar said:
Halo 4, doritos, mountain dew and pizza. I'm in heaven!
Click to expand...

All brought to you on Polygon via blazing fast Internet Explorer 9. Now you can order your Doritos, Mountain Dew, and Pizza Hut Deep Crust Pizza for a night of Halo 4 online sessions faster than you can on the competitor's browsers.
 
E

Empty

Member
what are people meant to comment?

"man i love pizza hut and halo" "great deal"

it's even more of an advert than the original press release. congrats.
 
F

Felix Lighter

Member
Posting the article could have just been chalked up as the writer falling for the same old PR tricks, bad enough but not necessarily nefarious. Deleting the comments and locking the thread, on the other hand, is a whole different much worse thing.
 
C

Carl

Member
chrisgrant said:
Guys, there's no controversy here. We decided to run a post, via EGM, that Pizza Hut was offering a prize to UK customers. Readers like to know when they can win free stuff, so we ran a post. There is no advertorial here since we weren't paid to put the piece up. Perhaps you didn't think the piece was newsworthy – well, that's fine. I encourage you to let us know at feedback@polygon.com and we'll use that feedback to influence our editorial direction.

What we won't allow is to have a bunch of people invade the comments and accuse us of wrongdoing. It's off-topic, and it's not helpful. If you want to believe there's a controversy behind everything, that's fine. We have a public ethics statement and we stick by it. If that's not enough for you to believe, then I'm sorry.

In short, we welcome your feedback, but in an appropriate venue. The comments thread of an article isn't that venue.
Click to expand...

Then maybe you should have written your own article instead of copy and pasting from the press release, lol
 
P

Parallacs

Member
Mesoian said:
Comments are back up now, along with the stance they took of why they deleted them.

http://www.polygon.com/2012/10/30/3575978/halo-4-avatar-costume-offered-free-from-u-k-pizza-huts

Honestly, if this is what you people are so angry over, you should stop going to gaming sites immediately. Cuz it's only gon' get worse from here.
Click to expand...

It's only going to get worse from here for the gaming websites themselves. Now, before they post an article, they have to think long and hard about how it reflects on their website.

Polygon wasn't paying much attention to the last week of news and now they are having to deal with a hostile crowd.

The smart ones are seeing the future and are making changes NOW:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2012/oct/30/video-game-journalism?CMP=twt_fd
 
B

bigdaddygamebot

Member
chrisgrant said:
Guys, there's no controversy here. We decided to run a post, via EGM, that Pizza Hut was offering a prize to UK customers. Readers like to know when they can win free stuff, so we ran a post. There is no advertorial here since we weren't paid to put the piece up. Perhaps you didn't think the piece was newsworthy – well, that's fine. I encourage you to let us know at feedback@polygon.com and we'll use that feedback to influence our editorial direction.

What we won't allow is to have a bunch of people invade the comments and accuse us of wrongdoing. It's off-topic, and it's not helpful. If you want to believe there's a controversy behind everything, that's fine. We have a public ethics statement and we stick by it. If that's not enough for you to believe, then I'm sorry.

In short, we welcome your feedback, but in an appropriate venue. The comments thread of an article isn't that venue.
Click to expand...

First week and considering what's going on...no one thought to pump the brakes on having the UK correspondent that is friends with Lauren Wainwright on Facebook "write" the Halo+Pizza Hut = Awesome article.

Because it's an article right?

Consider the entire thread feedback.

I was genuinely interested in what Polygon had planned. Now? Yeah...you guys are on the Kotaku, Joystiq List.


edit for...

McWhertor's discussion of GTA V is top notch as well.
 
T

Tain

Member
Videogame News Racket in full effect.

Wouldn't an automated stream of press releases without pretense be so much better?
 
D

Dennis

Banned
Why do you label copypasted press releases as news?

Why did you change from the image the PR people supplied you with?

Why aren't we allowed to see critical comments on a news story?

Does posting this as news not violate your own ethics guidelines?
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Sethos said:
I laughed in the other thread over how bad the site is but what makes this site so special? It has received so much attention, look like shitty gaming site #3058
Click to expand...

The site was being touted as "something different" for video game journalism, but in reality it's, as you've noticed, just another Kotaku. So, basically, there's been a lot of pointing and laughing as of late.
 
O

Orca

Member
It's not super important news, but it is news some of their readers might want to know. People are way too fucking touchy about this stuff this week. I mean who gives a shit if they changed the image? This isn't some backroom deal for higher scores, it's giving attention to a promotion that some of their readers might actually care about.

Deleting/locking comments, now that's something more interesting.
 
D

Delusibeta

Banned
chrisgrant said:
Guys, there's no controversy here. We decided to run a post, via EGM, that Pizza Hut was offering a prize to UK customers. Readers like to know when they can win free stuff, so we ran a post. There is no advertorial here since we weren't paid to put the piece up. Perhaps you didn't think the piece was newsworthy – well, that's fine. I encourage you to let us know at feedback@polygon.com and we'll use that feedback to influence our editorial direction.

What we won't allow is to have a bunch of people invade the comments and accuse us of wrongdoing. It's off-topic, and it's not helpful. If you want to believe there's a controversy behind everything, that's fine. We have a public ethics statement and we stick by it. If that's not enough for you to believe, then I'm sorry.

In short, we welcome your feedback, but in an appropriate venue. The comments thread of an article isn't that venue.
Click to expand...
The problem is that Polygon was advertised as a "revolution in games journalism", and here we are, barely a week after launch and you get caught copying a press release for an advertisement. Which, let's be honest, is what the article was about: announcing an advertisement.
 
N

Nert

Member
The way that they changed the picture is pretty hilarious. Are they trying to pass this off as something more than a retooled press release?

Edit: The idea that the comments section of an article is an inappropriate place to discuss the article is also hilarious. Quit making me laugh so much, Polygon :p
 
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