Escapist's Own Andy Chalk Called-Out By Game Heroes.

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Political news commentary that was not. I was surprised they didn't break into "My dad's got more page views than yours".

Perhaps if they'd wanted to simply steal ratings from other sites that did exactly the same...and actually get Andy's avatar instead of signing in from an anonymous account (How CUTTING EDGE!), then they might have had some backbone.

My bets on Andy in a fight anyway.

 

[Andy Chalk]

As far as I can tell, said "expert" is also up for employment for anyone

Which is why I've made a point of putting "experts" in quotes whenever I refer to this story.

 

[Sun Flash]

I can't really add anything to the debate, except that I'm backing Andy all the way.

 

[Woodsey]

Here's the thing, dudes - and I explained this in the original thread but I don't mind repeating here, briefly. The Fox News article was pure, unadulterated bullshit. The anti-gaming side of the argument was presented by "experts," psychologists and authors and so forth, while the pro-gaming side was presented by Hal Halpin - a guy who quite clearly has a vested interest in supporting the game industry. Is that balanced? Why does the anti-gaming side get "experts" while the pro-gaming side gets a guy who's essentially employed by the industry?

Other sites, particularly Rock Paper Shotgun, have already utterly demolished Lieberman's position and evidence, so I won't even get into that here except to mention that she's one of the more obvious and repulsive media whores I've run into in recent years.

Fox gets the blame for saying "games cause rape" because it provided a platform for this kind of nonsense. It sought out Lieberman and the rest, it got them to say idiotic things (probably not much work required there) and then it spread them all over the net, in the guise of news. That's on them. They bear the responsibility for that, and I called them out on it. Is that unfair? I don't think so, and I'm not about to give Fox credit for presenting both sides of the issue when it quite obviously did not do so.

I'm with you.

It doesn't require an actual Fox News employee to show what Fox News is saying. The article on RPS showed a bunch of quotes that had been put through a wood-chipper and then glued back together again.

Calling it selective quoting would be generous.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

Its good that someone has the balls to call out shitty journalism.

That's out of line.

While the title of the article was generalizing facts to suit the intended reader, it's clear Andy had nothing but the best intentions on supporting the gaming industry. It is Fox News after all.

Even still, that doesn't mean a clarification on his part isn't warranted, again, for our sake, not Fox.

 

[Megacherv]

Then I guess we can directly blame ESC for all the stupid shit that's been said on the forums over the years.

There's a big difference between providing an open mic and actively soliciting an opinion that will support your own views.

I think he was being sarcastic Andy

I had no quibbles with the article, and I found that last comment about Bill O'Reilly funny, so there's no complaints here. The more people who know how absurd Fox News can be, the better, and Andy's articel did that just right.

 

[wolf thing]

i disagree woth game heroes. they just seem to be try to make them self's seem more fair and impartial with out really adding anything and simply blaming other people. also it is right to blame fox news they did post the story.

 

[D_987]

It's good that someone has the balls to call out shitty journalism.

It's just hypocritical whenever Blistered thumbs is involved...defiantly one of the most pretentious, and yet worst, gaming sites of recent memory. The Escapist news room isn't perfect, but then again it's also a very small part of the site. I didn't find the article itself to be of any issue at all - it presented the authors opinion well whilst quoting areas of the Fox news report. Objective it was not, but I'd much rather see more journalists report in this manner, whilst admitting they hold a viewpoint, as we all do, instead of trying to hide behind the objective excuse ala Fox news.

 

[k-ossuburb]

EDIT: Also, let's not be unfair here, they criticise Andy for not using the whole article, so you really should quote their entire video where they make ridiculous points about the law and handguns in relation to videogames, hurting their own point about impartial reporting. When you're going to quote someone who's wrong, as they so rightly pointed out, you should quote the entirety of their wrongness.

If Andy Chalk is a hypocrite reporter, these guys aren't even reporters, they are an absolute joke, and I suddenly remember why I don't watch their videos on TGWTG

I know I should have quoted the lot, but I had enough trouble just quoting that segment as it was. I don't know, maybe it's my complete lack of a short-term memory or maybe I'm just an illiterate idiot with no sense, but it was difficult deciphering those two blabbering on, especially since neither really resolved any point they came up with.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Quick question, who are these game heroes people? Forgive my ignorance if they've got a sizable chunk of internet fame but I tend to only visit Wired and here for gaming and tech news.

 

[TheTygerfire]

I actually had huge problems with the misleading title of the article before, but I didn't think anyone else did so I didn't say anything.

I read the quotes and didn't watch the video, but GH has a really good point. It's irresponsible to put out an article attacking Fox News for something a guest said, regardless of your views of Fox.

It is, however, acceptable to attack Fox News for their blatant lack of any research into the topics their guests talk about. (See: SeXBOX)

 

[TheTygerfire]

Quick question, who are these game heroes people? Forgive my ignorance if they've got a sizable chunk of internet fame but I tend to only visit Wired and here for gaming and tech news.

They're a part of That Guy With The Glasses' video games division. They've been around for a while and most of their content is about classic gaming. They sometimes do serious stories like this, like they were going to troll the WBC but when they got there they were too upset by what they saw to even do anything except tell their viewers to support people they protested.

 

[The Lunatic]

Not really worth a response.

It's a pair of douchebags who have a place to put videos on the internet.

 

[D_987]

I read the quotes and didn't watch the video, but GH has a really good point. It's irresponsible to put out an article attacking Fox News for something a guest said, regardless of your views of Fox.

Why is that the case though? Even Carole Lieberman claimed she had been mis-quoted by Fox news, to set a clear agenda, and as Chalk pointed out Fox news did not choose their guests with a clear sense of discussing the issue - they held a very clear agenda and chose people they believed would be best to exploit to get that story, and that quote. Fox news is as much to blame as anyone, for giving the people in question a platform from which to preach without a clear, fair discussion about the matter. If they advertised the show as it is it wouldn't be so bad, but to many these discussions are, in the eyes of the public, "unbiased", that's why journalists such as Chalk and RPS should be applauded for stating the obvious on these issues.

 

[TheTygerfire]

I read the quotes and didn't watch the video, but GH has a really good point. It's irresponsible to put out an article attacking Fox News for something a guest said, regardless of your views of Fox.

Why is that the case though? Even Carole Lieberman claimed she had been mis-quoted by Fox news, to set a clear agenda, and as Chalk pointed out Fox news did not choose their guests with a clear sense of discussing the issue - they held a very clear agenda and chose people they believed would be best to exploit to get that story, and that quote. Fox news is as much to blame as anyone, for giving the people in question a platform from which to preach without a clear discussion about the matter. If they advertised it as such it wouldn't be so bad, but to many these discussions are "unbiased", that's why journalists such as Chalk and RPS should be applauded for stating the obvious on these issues.

Then again, isn't that exactly what you're doing by leaving out my part about Fox not doing any research on the issues they talk about?

 

[Something Amyss]

It's...Ummm...A headline. It offered a summary. Sensationalist or eye catching, sure. But a summary.

With the exception of the shot at O'Reilly's lack general knowledge, all the article itself does is report what was said. Accusing Chalk of chopping it up isn't really the case.

GH went for a shock title, too. The only reason I clicked on it was I saw "Bulletstorm Rape?" On TGWTG and it piqued my interest.

And honestly, they want to call out "shitty journalism," they should start with themselves. Well, no, that's unfair, they should try it themselves. While what they offer is closer to op-ed, they do so in the same slanted fashion as Fox News does. I can see why they're offended.

Oh, and One More thing: Read the original article. It chains together several paragraphs in sequeways to lead the conclusion here, going from Bulletstorm's conflation of sex and violence to neurological harm to games leading to rape. The reporting draws a clear line, even if the reporter does not explicitly say Bulletstorm=rape.

 

[D_987]

Then again, isn't that exactly what you're doing by leaving out my part about Fox not doing any research on the issues they talk about?

No, because that would be completely missing the point - I'm talking, very clearly, about your comments regarding Fox news not being held responsible for their guests statements. This has nothing to do with their "blatant lack of any research into the topics their guests talk about", and everything to do with the fact they're still very clearly responsible for any and all statements made by guests due to their deliberate lack of objectivity in these debates.

 

[gl1koz3]

Fox News is a galactic blight. Should include a nuke on the way to them in the next article, though.

And... seriously, someone here supports their argument? I thought making fun of Fox was what we all want here, so get your bearings right.

 

[ComicsAreWeird]

Chalk might be wrong concerning the misleading title, but these dudes are way out of line. Resorting to name-calling is not acceptable.

 

[Something Amyss]

I actually had huge problems with the misleading title of the article before, but I didn't think anyone else did so I didn't say anything.

I read the quotes and didn't watch the video, but GH has a really good point. It's irresponsible to put out an article attacking Fox News for something a guest said, regardless of your views of Fox.

It is, however, acceptable to attack Fox News for their blatant lack of any research into the topics their guests talk about. (See: SeXBOX)

Except it's not "lack of research" and it's either dishonest or ignorant to put it as such.

We have evidence that they framed the issue deliberately as they did, which both means your statement about "attacking Fox for something a guest said" is invalid and the notion that they merely "did not do the research" is false. You cannot, cannot CANNOT both slant the story and claim ignorance. Well, you can, but you'd be lying. Once they altered their sources to fit the narrative, it becomes their responsibility. Once they write a narrative to lead to a specific conclusion, it becomes their responsibility.

Once you put your hand in, it is no longer clean.