I may as well turn this entire blog into an analysis dealing with everything wrong in the gaming journalism industry. There's been an absolute insane amount of mudslinging going on behind the scenes. Journalists proclaiming that gaming is 'dead,' calling all gamers misogynists, censorship of serious issues... etc. etc.
But along comes Jim Sterling, telling us that it's okay to look at things rationally! It's okay to take sides in the conflict... as long as you don't harass Anita Sarkeesian. It's okay to question Zoey Quinn... as long as you accept that she totally didn't do anything wrong.
Jim Sterling, in my mind, is trying to be the anti-TotalBiscuit in this situation. He's preaching tolerance and trying to find equal ground, but his words come off and empty and hollow... almost as if he doesn't even understand the situation. He even admits to not even watching Anita's videos! Um. Isn't that kind of thing your JOB?
I've heard lots of conspiracy theories floating around about how Jim actually kind of wants to support the #Gamergate but can't because his job prevents him from doing so, but watching his newest Jimquisition, and reading his tweets, doesn't give me that impression at all.
If anything, I think he totally deserves the 'SJW' label, despite what he says. He's defending Anita for no other reason than the fact that she is a woman who says she's been harassed on the internet. There are numerous reasons to dislike Anita's work. People didn't start to care about her background until she started making all of these outrageous claims.
Oddly, I've been noticing that although The Escapist has stopped censoring the Zoey Quinn scandal, you can't get away with speculating about how this effects Anita. I know one of my comments pointing out that people had very good reason to believe that Anita faked those threatening tweets got deleted.
So basically, The Escapist is censoring certain things, but letting other things be. I suppose that's a bit better than what certain other sites have been dealing with the controversy (Oh, Kotaku...) but it's still a disgusting practice. They're trying to get people burned out on the Zoey Quinn thing, without being able to discuss just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
If gamers keep pressing the issues, the gaming media will be forced to reform... and they DO NOT WANT THIS. Believe it or not, but there are perks for being as corrupted as they are. They like being sent gifts. They like having a laid back job where they praise the stupidest shit, theyLIKE acting all smug on Twitter.
Remember, the gaming media is basically an extension of the PR department of Xbox and Playstation. All those shit games that became successful last generation can be traced back to these people. This could be an absolutely huge blow to their business. Being forced to advertise their products through honest methods? That wouldn't end well for them at all.
What I'm saying is that the gaming media is going to fight tooth and nail to prevent change. They're scamming people, and they know it.
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