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Game writer out of a job after libel complaint
Nadia
Member UncommonPosts: 11,798
http://boingboing.net/2012/10/25/writer-out-of-a-job-after-crit.html
Eurogamer ran an interesting article about, in part, game journalists and their connection with advertisers. The image of Geoff Keighley sitting next to all those snacks, labels facing forward, has been passed around the Internet for the past day or so. The story also discussed writers tweeting at an industry event in order to win hardware, and the writer brought up a few instances of behavior he found questionable on the part of his peers. That’s not news. What happened next however, makes the story much more interesting than the standard patina of fear and distrust that often surrounds those who cover the video game industry.
Intent Media, the publisher of MCV UK, reached out to Eurogamer to complain about comments made about their writer, Lauren Wainwright. Eurogamer has since deleted sections of the story, and it has been claimed that Intent in fact threatened Eurogamer with legal action if the offending sections of the story weren’t deleted. “Also, don’t blame Eurogamer for this,” Robert Florence, the article’s author, stated. “The threat of legal action brings unbelievable pressure. I am clear on who the bad guys are in this.”
..
It’s all about loving Tomb Raider
Florence noticed journalists winning PlayStation 3’s on Twitter, and was critical of the practice of promoting games in exchange for the possibility of winning prizes. He detailed what happened next in the original version of the story.
“One games journalist, Lauren Wainwright, tweeted: ‘Urm… Trion were giving away PS3s to journalists at the GMAs. Not sure why that’s a bad thing?’,” Florence reported. “Now, a few tweets earlier, she also tweeted this: ‘Lara header, two TR pix in the gallery and a very subtle TR background. #obsessed @tombraider pic.twitter.com/VOWDSavZ’”
Florence stated that this behavior made him skeptical of Wainwright’s motivations. “And instantly I am suspicious. I am suspicious of this journalist’s apparent love for Tomb Raider. I am asking myself whether she’s in the pocket of the Tomb Raider PR team. I’m sure she isn’t, but the doubt is there. After all, she sees nothing wrong with journalists promoting a game to win a PS3, right?”
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both links are worth reading
reviewers being schmoozed is nothing new - but threatening libel is a new twist and this is only going to put Wainwright in an undesirable spotlight of attention
associated reddit link
http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1227qi/robert_florence_just_stepped_down_from_eurogamer/
Comments
Kinda sad, that people in the industry can't speak the truth.
Thanks,
Mike
Working on Social Strategy MMORTS (now Launched!) http://www.worldalpha.com
She most likely has been given free goods to sway her favour, not a bribe but you're not likely to write mean things about a guy who just handed you a PS3 now are you?
Sadly this is standard practice in the film and music industry and since gaming is more profitable than either of those I'd assume it's the same here. It's the other side of the 'Write a good review about us or we'll never allow you review our products' again coin.
Just goes to show what is wrong with the gaming industry from both a publisher to the very journalists that cover it. Its a real shame but the truth is harsh. I remember when gaming at least was about releasing those games people loved rather then doing it just for profit. Now the industry is so wrapped up with money that people will bribe their way to the top.
In truth too, we all already knew this was happening. Lets face it, we can already look at a site now that has done the same thing for a game we all knew wasn't that great and flaunted it with the Game of the Year title... which was actually done on many different sites as well and less then a year later is struggling and going F2P. It just goes to show you opinions can be bought quite easily now with the game industry.
The staff at MMORPG.com are too busy playing on their complimentary PS3's and knocking back the beers they won recently on Twitter to comment.
Just joking!
I don't think there is anything wrong with a company offering some incentives, but it depends how much. I noticed some of the replies to that post showed cash limits some gaming journalists work to. That seems good sense.
If you have your travel paid when visiting a gaming house, lunch on them at the Gaming festival that sort of thing is fine. Anything in execess of £50 is a cause for concern.
It's the same in all industries really. It's a sad fact.
It's dangerous today to take risks in media under fear of lawsuits so most just regurgitate press releases to stay safe.
There is no news anymore.
www.greedmonger.com
Did you like Ultima Online? Then you'll LOVE Greed Monger!
Looks like surpressing the truth has ended up has a /facespike for little miss Lauren Wainwright, karma is a bitch and I love it, but still it makes me sick for happening in the first place.
Mmmmmm....must....buy Beer, Halo 4, Mountain Dew, Doritos & Lauren Wainwright.
Yup...it's not often that we find reason to be gratefull for our legal system over here in the US....but this is one place where we definately should be thankfull....our libel laws (or Free Speech in general) though eroded are still so much better then they have in most Commonwealth Countries...
It's straight out of the Zenger Trial.
nothing new really, hence why I never read what these people say about games, hell about anything, its always biased in some way.
far more into searching for info over the net, not only one thing, for games I go read the revies of people in gamefaqs, I read the one who top the max score and the lowest one for that game and compare they points then make if what I know about it will fall on my taste.
but what she said is pretty much a kill carrer thing, hardly anyone will hire her now.
You should probably make sure your job is secure before you start pointing fingers and naming names. Eurogamer most likely believed he was more trouble than what he brought to the table. In another article, he writes, "And it's a tricky thing to talk about on these pages, because... well, because I appreciate the platform Eurogamer has given me here. I don't want to seem like an ungrateful beast, striking out at those who put food on my daughter's table."
It's one thing to write an unpopular piece with concrete evidence, but it's another to write piece after piece in a holier-than-thou attitude--some with accusations that may or may not be true.
I don't mind negative articles that shed light on practices that should be looked at, but the article that he got fired for was kind of like reading gossip. Lots of winks and nudges.
First off, writers in the gaming industry are rarely journalists, so there are no rules for acting with integrity.
Secondly, gaming sites and their staff have always favored one game over another, even our beloved MMORPG.com. Come on, don't say anything too negative about GW2 around here...
I'm surprised this shocks anyone.
Q: How do you tell the game writer who gave the game a 10/10?
A: He's the one with the dirty knees.
I disagree. Someone writing news articles to a large and professionally maintained website is always a journalist. Writing news to a professionally maintained website makes him a journalist.
Ofc definition of a journalist might vary around the world.
The little guy always wants to be remebered. lol. I mean really, what was her background history? Any shmuck can write a decent article or review on a game and hope to get a job. This is a bad economy. It's about time people start realizing what happens in a bad economy.
Check out who she lists as a former employer on her Journalisted page.
http://journalisted.com/lauren-wainwright#tab-bio
Yep, tweeting about Tomb Raider to win prizes, gets quoted in an article about integrity in journalism, takes legal action, and she used to work for them. Jesus.
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Has she removed the Square-Enix/Eidos stuff from that page? I'm not seeing it anymore.
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Apparently so. Man, nothing spells credible like removing incriminating evidence
I am not surprised at the practices. Still it wanna make me puke.
Big part of gaming is as 'classy' now as tabloids like News of The World, Daily Mail, UK The Sun, etc
Just junk.
She also trolled the guy, screen is from yesterday:
http://botherer.org/2012/10/26/guest-post-robert-florence-on-the-last-few-days/
Guest Post: Robert Florence On The Eurogamer Incident
BURN.
I used to read PCGameplay, it still exists, they mentioned when they got bribes, they got them all the time from game developers, they never gave in but said many people do.
Famitsu is completely in the hands of developer bribes.