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Escapist Magazine retracts article about ethics in games journalism

Archive of original article

Issues and apology and retract the article

Summary
Russ Pitts , editor of the relaunched Escapist Magazine writes and article about ethics in games journalism. Gets harassed by Zoe Quin and her twitter mob for writing about all the sides of the argument and falls for the age old trick in thinking apologizing to these people will help at all.

I did have a chuckle at his "Of course you think this is all about you" tweet he sent to Zoe Quin, before he lost his balls and deleted everything :/

Just goes to show, ethics in game journalism will never be allowed to be discussed because of how good these "journalists" and twitter mobs etc are at salting the earth around it.
 

Kagey K

Banned
I find it sad that a small amount of people with the loudest voices are the ones that get heard, meanwhile everyone that has no problem keeps on keeping on.

Squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that, but at some point this nonsense has to stop.

Lately it seems that there aren’t any ethics in the “journalism” it’s only don’t write shit that will get a backlash, and make sure you pander to the loudest group.

It’s like politicians with special interest groups but on a micro level.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
I find it sad that a small amount of people with the loudest voices are the ones that get heard, meanwhile everyone that has no problem keeps on keeping on.

Squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that, but at some point this nonsense has to stop.

Lately it seems that there aren’t any ethics in the “journalism” it’s only don’t write shit that will get a backlash, and make sure you pander to the loudest group.

It’s like politicians with special interest groups but on a micro level.

Dead on, pretty much.
 

petran79

Banned
GG was also a chance for a purge in mainstream games journalism. All the reasonable and neutral people either left or became indie with their own funded blogs.
 

guggnichso

Banned
Archive of original article

Issues and apology and retract the article

Summary
Russ Pitts , editor of the relaunched Escapist Magazine writes and article about ethics in games journalism. Gets harassed by Zoe Quin and her twitter mob for writing about all the sides of the argument and falls for the age old trick in thinking apologizing to these people will help at all.

I did have a chuckle at his "Of course you think this is all about you" tweet he sent to Zoe Quin, before he lost his balls and deleted everything :/

Just goes to show, ethics in game journalism will never be allowed to be discussed because of how good these "journalists" and twitter mobs etc are at salting the earth around it.

This was not an article about „ethics in games journalism“ hurr durr, it was an article about GamerGate.
 
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Kagey K

Banned
This was not an article about „ethics in games journalism“ hurr durr, it was an article about GamerGate.
For those that are uninformed, would you care to write up a summary?

Explain like they are 5 as to what the difference is and how it changed the industry.
 

TheSHEEEP

Gold Member
I read the article and honestly, it is for the most part entirely correct.
It was just a dumb move to have it reference GamersGate. That term is so tainted, one should simply never use it - nothing can be gained from doing so. No matter the intentions.

That they chose to retract it because of the expectable outrcry from the usual suspects just goes to show why larger magazines are losing ground by the minute, while honest and independent people on YouTube, etc. are gaining ground.
 
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ROMhack

Member
It's a good, honest read despite its many faults. I personally think he's taking things too seriously, although somehow the reaction to it was even more serious.

Unfortunately, the language he uses is sycophantic in a lot of ways, declaring people 'deserve better' with regard to hearing about transparency and consumer rights without realising that people are probably (or at least should be) smart enough to figure that out for themselves. It's the type of lecturing that we see all too often and which, I think, turns people off.

He does at least acknowledge the faults of media but makes no suggestions for how to fix things. My assumption is that he realises that once a media outlet gets too big, it inevitably falters.

1) The movement was at the time, and remains to this day, inseparable from the targeted harassment, identity politics, and profit-driven hate mongering of many of those who claimed to support it.
2) Although people like Milo Yiannopoulos became the loudest voices claiming to represent “the movement,” their idea of ethics was to hire dozens of interns to ghost write their books, not pay them, and then run.
3) The people most qualified to have a meaningful conversation about ethics in journalism couldn’t reasonably engage on that topic while fielding death threats from those demanding they do so.
4) It is still to this day difficult to start a conversation about the very real issues of ethics and transparency — in publishing, in criticism, in consuming — without reopening the terrible wounds caused by the bad people who used those topics as a smokescreen to conduct their harassment, terrorism, and culture war.

He's at right about these, I think.

The media business is a terrible place to work. Much like the business of making games, the business of making games media is rife with employee abuse, rampant greed, horrible decision-making, and risk. It’s no wonder many games journalists jump at the chance to abandon the media ship and join the not-in-any-way-more-stable, but somehow more livable business of games PR. Contributing to the illness of games media is the illness of media itself.

He's also right about this. Look up any PR company specialising in games and most of the time they are ex-writers or developers (because you need contacts to work in PR).

If you don’t believe me, ask yourself why we’re in the midst of an indie golden age. Whether or not the average game consumer ever truly appreciates the sheer number of humans involved in making a game, or the amount of creativity and love those humans pour into their profession, the way we make games had to change. If gaming doesn’t continue to evolve into a more humane business, we will lose those humans, their love, and anything they might create. Although I appreciate the great indie games that can come from former AAA developers as much as anyone, the more indies are in the space, the smaller the window for success gets, at least as far as history is concerned.

This is something I'm personally interested in yet rarely see. There's few interviews with developers, almost nothing relating to the process of how those games were made. I'd love to see that.

If it exists, it's not promoted well enough.

--

All in all, it's a situation where people should be less fixated with 'ethics' and more fixated with writing about stuff they like - that's what people want to see.
 
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Kagey K

Banned
Thank you, that was a well thought out and elaborate reply.

I wish more people here could explain their stance, rather then old tired shitposts.

A+
 

Hudo

Member
Everytime I read something about stuff like this, Twitter seems to be the main facilitator/"battleground". What benefits does one gain to be on Twitter? It seems to me that if you happen to have an opinion different from some other group's, you get harassed into apologising for it. Even though every opinion should be as valid as everyone else's, as long as you don't try to be a missionary (or actively bother/threaten people) about it. Is it that hard to respect that other people can have different opinions and that it is okay that differences exist? People always have the choice to either agree or not agree or just not care about an opinion. Why does it always have to end in shit like this? People can be friendly towards each other and still have different opinions about stuff. If one feels "forced" to see everyone who does not agree as an enemy, maybe it's time to self-reflect about why that is?

He wrote an article that voiced an opinion. Of course you can disagree. Zoe Quinn must have a lot of time and energy to lash out against everyone who disagrees. I couldn't do that. It sounds too exhausting, lol.
 
he sounds like a bitch and everyone should laugh at him for being a fucking punk. grow a spine you fucking weasel

if there is anyone out there knows him tell him i personally called him a bitch and if i was next to him id spit on his face. hypothetically speaking. id give give him such a verbal beating
 
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Kagey K

Banned
he sounds like a bitch and everyone should laugh at him for being a fucking punk. grow a spine you fucking weasel

if there is anyone out there knows him tell him i personally called him a bitch and if i was next to him id spit on his face. hypothetically speaking. id give give him such a verbal beating
Probably not the best way to go about it, but to each their own.
 
Probably not the best way to go about it, but to each their own.

what way then? im just some guy on a forum. is he gonna show up to my house and shoot me. probably not. is he gonna sue me over a stupid forum post. probably not. can i say absolutely stupid shit anonymously? 100 percent

so best way to go about it? yup
 
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Kagey K

Banned
what way then? im just some guy on a forum. is he gonna show up to my house and shoot me. probably not. is he gonna sue me over a stupid forum post. probably not. can i say absolutely stupid shit anonymously? 100 percent

so best way to go about it? yup
I suppose that’s one way to look at it, I personally choose try to be better then that, so on the off chance they do read it, they can see where the bar should be instead of where it is.

Comments like yours just help lower the bar, but you are entitled to it.
 
I suppose that’s one way to look at it, I personally choose try to be better then that, so on the off chance they do read it, they can see where the bar should be instead of where it is.

Comments like yours just help lower the bar, but you are entitled to it.

lmao quit with the "youre titled to your opinion" angle. if you think an opinion is stupid as fuck quit trying to hide it as such. if i think someone is a fucking moron ill call em a fucking moron. and no my comment doesnt lower any bar. be real in what you want. its all you got, you think someone is a fucking idiot call em a fucking idiot. you can tell me in the most polite manner you disagree. someone who tells me my teeth are fucking yellow or some shit im gonna give them more attention than you
 

Kagey K

Banned
lmao quit with the "youre titled to your opinion" angle. if you think an opinion is stupid as fuck quit trying to hide it as such. if i think someone is a fucking moron ill call em a fucking moron. and no my comment doesnt lower any bar. be real in what you want. its all you got, you think someone is a fucking idiot call em a fucking idiot. you can tell me in the most polite manner you disagree. someone who tells me my teeth are fucking yellow or some shit im gonna give them more attention than you


So that’s a thing, good luck going forward.
 
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Kagey K

Banned
so i beat you in logic and you post a tumblr gif. guess my logic is really that good baby
There was logic in there? It was an emo post about crap. There was no response to give.

I’m so edgy, brood brood brood, yellow teeth, respect. That’s why you got the gif, if you had something interesting to contribute I would contribute back.
 
Childish arguments like these will earn a quick thread ban. Please do not do this again.
There was logic in there? It was an emo post about crap. There was no response to give.

I’m so edgy, brood brood brood, yellow teeth, respect. That’s why you got the gif, if you had something interesting to contribute I would contribute back.

damn son i got you foaming at the mouth. post another tumblr gif of someone not completing a sentence because it has more to say that you did
 

Boss Mog

Member
NEVER apologize to these people. They won't forgive you at all and you'll just end up looking pathetic to the people that agree with you, I.e. sane people.
 

Cunth

Fingerlickin' Good!
that guy russ pitts is now the world's ultimate pussy. his tweets apologising were made of enough cringe to power 1000 friend zones.
 

Kagey K

Banned
5secondrulesucks 5secondrulesucks

I guess, if that’s how you read it. I’m laughing, not angry. I guess maybe it’s the words I choose or something, people always see it as angry, but it’s funny.

I’m literally laughing as I type, not foaming at the mouth. I probably amuse myself more then I amuse others, but if some get my double entendre, or my puns or my sarcasm I would be even more impressed.

I say you and me should call it quits here. There is nothing good coming from this.
 
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5secondrulesucks 5secondrulesucks

I guess, if that’s how you read it. I’m laughing, not angry. I guess maybe it’s the words I choose or something, people always see it as angry, but it’s funny.

I’m literally laughing as I type, not foaming at the mouth. I probably amuse myself more then I amuse others, but if some get my double entendre, or my puns or my sarcasm I would be even more impressed.

I say you and me should call it quits here. There is nothing good coming from this.

others here can tell you i can argue all night baby
 

Virex

Banned
Never apologise to these people and their mobs. And never negotiate with terrorists. Once you cave and give in, you give them power over you.
 

Kagey K

Banned
Never apologise to these people and their mobs. And never negotiate with terrorists. Once you cave and give in, you give them power over you.

Yeah I just learned that the hard way.

Next time we cut it short and quick, fuck all this nonsense talking in circles to win by attrition. It’s the pussy way.
 
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Kagey K

Banned
hey man im not that bad once you get to know me
Ehh, if you lived close enough to me I would find you and hug you. It seems like that’s what you really need right now.

You need a place to vent, and I’m not going to hold that against you, just know that even when I disagree with people, I don’t hold it against them and there are many different levels to many different subjects.

I find myself disagreeing with some people on many different topics, but every now and then there is one we both agree on.

That is what makes discussion fun, and forces relationships to change.
 
Ehh, if you lived close enough to me I would find you and hug you. It seems like that’s what you really need right now.

You need a place to vent, and I’m not going to hold that against you, just know that even when I disagree with people, I don’t hold it against them and there are many different levels to many different subjects.

I find myself disagreeing with some people on many different topics, but every now and then there is one we both agree on.

That is what makes discussion fun, and forces relationships to change.

no thanks i dont like people touching me
 

Achelexus

Member
THEY TARGETTED FEMALES, FEMALES!

Christ, womanchildren in gaming often have such a terrible false sense of persecution.
 

Kagey K

Banned
Well I wouldn’t, so let’s not go there. My g/f and kids might get upset,

But seriously if you need an extra thought I’m here and you can PM me. We can fight or work together it’s up to you,
 
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Guileless

Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
These people are so psychologically stuck in the rehearsal of victimhood that they can't tolerate any rational inquiry at all into this subject.

The author needs to consider changing his name and moving to Mongolia.
 

Guileless

Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
that guy russ pitts is now the world's ultimate pussy. his tweets apologising were made of enough cringe to power 1000 friend zones.

I generally dislike quoting from Wikipedia, but its intro to the subject of Maoist struggle sessions is useful and pithy:

A struggle session was a form of public humiliation and torture that was used by the Communist Party of China in the Mao era, particularly during the Cultural Revolution, to shape public opinion and humiliate, persecute, or execute political rivals and those deemed class enemies.

In general, the victim of a struggle session was forced to admit various crimes before a crowd of people who would verbally and physically abuse the victim until he or she confessed. Struggle sessions were often held at the workplace of the accused, but they were sometimes conducted in sports stadiums where large crowds would gather if the target was well-known
 

Petrae

Member
Imagine a gaming website that stuck to reporting on games instead of extraneous bullshit that invites drama.

This is why traditional gaming media is so irreversibly fucked, and cannot disappear soon enough: It refuses to focus on games. It’s a goddamned platform for other shit now.

Sociolopolitical shit.
Advocacy shit.
“Our jobs are hard” shit.
Gamergate shit.
Morality shit.

“Oh, but there’s some tie-in to video games, so it’s a perfect use for our platform!” Fuck off.

I saw tweets flying by on my timeline about this nerdy schoolyard fight between “journalists” and other gaming-related people, and it was embarrassing to say the least. Twitter is where all of these people run to in order to bitch about everything, airing their dirty laundry LiveJournal-style while reveling in the fact that now they can bitch to a wider audience that they think is listening and giving more than a molecule of shit about what they’re saying. They love thrusting themselves into the spotlight; they live for the likes and retweets.

Pitts knew what he was doing when he penned and ran this thing. He knew that he was going to kick the hornet’s nest and get stung, but the potential of web traffic and people talking about his website were seemingly worth the pain.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Gaming "journalism" has been shit for 20 years. Ever since the net came about, it's been one humongous scratch my back, I'll scratch yours of high review scores, banner ads, Jeff Gertsmann firings, paid off previews, and social media payoffs.

Also, people got to remember, gaming journalists aren't exactly professionally trained or taught journalism students. I don't think any of them are. They are simply average joes getting web sites up and uploading articles.... which anyone can do. Just because they call themselves a Senior Gaming Editor means nothing. My buddy had a game site up and running as a hobby, so technically he can call himself anything from President to VP of Editorial. His day job? He works at some downtown skyscraper doing analysis office work.

Any of you who didn't read game mags in the 80s and 90s missed out.

Of course, they need money too (ads) to keep thing afloat, but many of the mags out there didn't have editorial that was glorified rhetoric and almost all games getting 70/100 or more. You got criticism, low scores, Ds and Fs. 3/10s etc..... If a game got 8s or better in EGM it was an achievement. Same with PC Gamer. Get 80% or more and that took a lot. Have a bug filled PC game, and that mag would score it 18% and rag on it for half the article. If a game of that quality released now, it would probably still squeak out a 60/100.

I don't know which game sites started off the paid off BS which made every other site do the same, but it started around the mid-2000s I think..... just as the net was going into full swing.
 
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Will someone help me out? Sorry, I still can't figure it out! So, if I support Gamergate, what does that mean? And if I don't support Gamergate what does that mean? Honest question I haven't been able to figure out this whole time.
 
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