Games writer fired: was Rockstar responsible?
p2pnet view Games:- Ex-Zoo Weekly deputy entertainment editor Toby McCasker (right) used Fa$ebook to highlight part of an email supposedly sent by a Rockstar Games publicist to staff at the magazine.
“This is the biggest game we’ve done since GTA IV, and is already receiving Game of the Year 2010 nominations from specialists all around the world,” the email said of Rockstar’s new title Red Dead Redemption.
“Can you please ensure Toby’s article reflects this — he needs to respect the huge achievement he’s writing about here”, it went on.
Now, “The post on Facebook has since been taken down and McCasker has been dismissed from the magazine”, says news.com.au, going on >>>
McCasker told news.com.au the email was an example of growing pressure from game companies for favourable media coverage.
“I did not sign up to become a journalist to write advertorials masquerading as editorial,” he said.
“This ‘cash for comment’ culture that is fast becoming the status quo within print media bothers me a lot.”
Zoo editor Paul Merrill would not comment on McCasker’s dismissal but did say he was unaware of any bid to influence the magazine’s reviews.
“This of course isn’t the first time this kind of thing has happened, nor will it be the last time, especially when it comes to the ‘mainstream’ press and its coverage of video games”, says Kotaku, adding:
“It’s just…the latest time.”
Rockstar Games Australia is quoted by news.com.au as stating:
” We are not clear on what the story is here. We always try to present our games in the most compelling way to media and fans alike and of course we, like every other video game publisher in Australia or anywhere else for that matter, want to have our games seen in a positive light.”
Either way, “it all seems to comes down to PR pressure on a gaming journalist because he said something they didn’t want him to say”, says Geek.com, adding:
” Sadly, that’s much more common than you would like to think.”
..… and identi.ca
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
news.com.au – Lads’ mag editor blows whistle on video games, April 7, 2010
Kotaku – Rumor: Grand Theft Auto Developers Pressure Magazine, Writer Sacked, April 6, 2010
Geek.com – Did Rockstar get Australian gaming journalist fired?, April 7, 2010
Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to p2pnet.net | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/feed
Net access blocked by government restrictions? Use Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Go here for details. Click here to learn what technologies might help you bypass censorship in your area.
April 7th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Kane & Lynch pt 2