Ethics in video game journalism: Bethesda, Ubi blacklist Kotaku

[Human Snorenado]

http://kotaku.com/a-price-of-games-journalism-1743526293

[brob]

I only seem to hear about Gawker when they throw a shitfit or do something stupid or both.

[Kara]

and, most galling, ignored all of our requests for comment on any news stories.

lol

[Rufus]

I heard about this on the Beastcast. Shitty for them for sure, but they'll be fine.

[Trent Dole]

Everyone should blacklist Kotaku cause they fucking suck. Slow as hell on reporting things, used to post super creepy figure galleries all the time and regularly link to gawker sister site fleshbot, then they did a weird 180 and went hyper-pseudo-progressive.

[pilonv1]

All games journalism sucks

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Not a damn thing wrong here. Leak my company info and you'll get no more.

Fuck joketaku....worst of them all.

[Shadow Mod]

Everyone should blacklist Kotaku cause they fucking suck. Slow as hell on reporting things, used to post super creepy figure galleries all the time and regularly link to gawker sister site fleshbot, then they did a weird 180 and went hyper-pseudo-progressive.

Pseudo progressive is right, there was just an article the other day about how despite all their "feminist" clickbait type articles they treat women in house like shit. Not surprising since a lot of "progressive leaning" places are just paying lip service but still disappointing.

[Great Rumbler]

kotaku sucks

[Joe Molotov]

Shtako

[Take My Breh Away]

Name your website after a Japanese term for hermits then condemn coverage of games of interest to those hermits, brehs 

[Huff]

 

[Rufus]

Name your website after a Japanese term for hermits then condemn coverage of games of interest to those hermits, brehs 

You can lay that at Brian Crecente's feet.

Though he's a founding member of Polygon now, which is also kind of funny.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Kotaku, and by extension Gawker, is the National Enquirer of clickbait farms: nobody should really take them seriously and if you do, it's your own fault.

Can't wait until Hulkamania gapes their assholes next year.

[benjipwns]

and by extension Gawker, is the National Enquirer of clickbait farms: nobody should really take them seriously and if you do, it's your own fault.

That was the OLD Gawker:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/18/business/media/gawker-politics-media.html

Gawker.com, a site that pioneered the knowing, irreverent tone that has come to define web journalism, will switch from covering New York and the media world, as it has done since its founding in 2003, to focus on politics.

The change, which is part of a broad reorganization of the site’s parent company, Gawker Media, was announced in a memo to the staff on Tuesday.

The site, wrote Gawker’s founder, Nick Denton, “will ride the circus of the 2016 campaign cycle, seizing the opportunity to reorient its editorial scope on political news, commentary and satire.”

Politics, writ large, “has provided the scene for some of Gawker’s most recognized editorial scoops,” he said, citing reporting on Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto smoking crack cocaine, and the power of Fox News.

“Is there any doubt,” he wrote, “that the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign, a contest between reality-defying fabulists and the last representatives of two exhausted political dynasties will provide rich new opportunities for sensation and satire?”

In an interview, Alex Pareene, Gawker.com’s editor, said that he wanted to define politics broadly, and that it would include coverage of big business, the media and culture when appropriate.

“There is going to be a lot of campaign coverage, because this campaign is great and a dream for any writer. But we’re not going to become Real Clear Politics,” he said, referring to a political news site.

“There will be a sort of satirical tone and satirical approach to reporting real news,” he said, citing John Oliver, whose HBO show combines aggregation, reporting and humor.

Gawker, Mr. Pareene said, will be hiring editors, and at least one political reporter. In an email to the company’s staff, John Cook, the executive editor of Gawker Media, said that two reporters, Allie Jones and Sam Biddle, would head out on the campaign trail, while Ashley Feinberg will “obsessively monitor the dark and hilarious lunatic fringes on the right and left.” Tom Scocca, currently executive features editor, will begin writing a column, as will Mr. Pareene.

Gawker, Mr. Cook wrote, “will take a ‘Daily Show’ approach to covering the ever-intensifying culture wars, documenting, satirizing and reporting on the ways that political disputes are refracted in every aspect of our popular culture.”

[brob]

Political satire from Nick Denton, the pro-life gay dude.

[VomKriege]

Honestly, I think Kotaku has every right to bitch at the issue and bring as much flak as they can to the publishers involved, no matter the actual quality of their work. It is the same for books, theater or movies.  It highlights just how dependent to the goodwill of everyone involved the whole system is. Maybe the whole field would do good in giving less time to the "AAA" tit.

[seagrams hotsauce]

Political satire from Nick Denton, the pro-life gay dude.

To be fair, he's kind of a living monty python sketch

It was a mild spring evening, and Mr. Denton, who is 48, was standing on the fire escape of his SoHo loft in a long-sleeve T-shirt and jeans, smoking a joint and drinking a glass of red wine with his husband, Derrence Washington; Tommy Craggs, the executive editor of his media empire; and me.

As Mr. Denton eased into his soliloquy — “Look at those Midtown towers: What are those people doing all day?” — Mr. Craggs started cracking up.

“What?” Mr. Denton asked.

“You just wrote the lead of his story,” Mr. Craggs said, nodding toward me. “ ‘Midway through his first joint, Nick Denton said a revolution was coming.’ ”

“He can’t use that,” Mr. Denton replied. “You can’t use that — I mean, realistically, in The New York Times.”

Mr. Craggs insisted that I could, and I would. They ended their argument with a bet.

Go collect your $50, Mr. Craggs.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Honestly, I think Kotaku has every right to bitch at the issue and bring as much flak as they can to the publishers involved, no matter the actual quality of their work. It is the same for books, theater or movies.  It highlights just how dependent to the goodwill of everyone involved the whole system is. Maybe the whole field would do good in giving less time to the "AAA" tit.

It does highlight the goodwill of everyone involved because at this point games journalism has been made totally redundant.  Game publishers and developers don't need gaming journalists; they can advertise right to the customers.  It means nothing to Bethesda or Ubisoft's bottom line to throw Kotaku to the bushes so if Kotaku wants to pull stunts like this, then they will quickly find themselves on the losing end, which is what happened here.  It's unfair for sure but Kotaku attempted to flex their nuts in an era where they're no longer needed or necessary.  Gawker keeps racking up these Ls.

[VomKriege]

Can't disagree here. I believe most of "Internet press" is redundant, parasitic and harmful to the content quality, surviving on a flawed economic model anyway.

[nachobro]

eh, i'd care more if kotaku and gawker didn't throw out all their goodwill years ago

[Human Snorenado]

Is it really unfair, though?

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Kotaku sucks. I like deadspin but the rest of their sites are fucking garbage.

[studyguy]

Pretty sure this is an endless cycle of some PR giving media the finger, then something happens (like this story), they squash whatever beef they had till it happens again. Number of podcasts seem to mention this shit isn't even a new occurrence. Got no axe to grind with Kotaku, but all the same blacklisting dudes seems like a good way to be labeled shitty, Kotaku or not.