Some of the buzz on Twitter today revolved around an open letter to Penny Arcade from a writer on a website called GameRanx. The letter was directed to Penny Arcade’s new video game news editor Ben Kuchera (formerly of ARS Technica). It sounded as if the letter was saying that all successful video game journalism ends up being swift reports of information with branded spin and any attempts to deviate from that norm could not hope to be successful.
Ben’s response was… well… rather pointed. He told them where they could shove it. He even went so far as to claim that Penny Arcade’s first day of coverage would beat GameRanx’s month. (I wouldn’t doubt it either. I know I’m very excited to see what they have coming!)
I read responses back and forth from the editors of different websites and magazines until I felt like I was swimming. It took a tweet by Jim Sterling to set me straight.
His tweet read, “95% of Games Journalists would be happier if they admitted they weren’t journalists and just did their F***ing thing.”
I have to say. The man has a point. The vast majority of websites and blogs out there are staffed by people who are claiming to be more than they are. True journalists have contacts in the industry and report news directly from the source. Some people… not so much. Think about it. How many copies of the same story are posted as soon as a piece of news breaks?
I have to say. I fall into the “not so much” category. I don’t write news. I don’t really know anyone in the industry. But, you know what? I’m ok with that. It’s what I want to do, but I have to be patient. In the meantime, I just need to accept that I’m not writing news about games. I’m just writing about games… and there is nothing wrong with that at all.
Thanks Jim. You’re right. I am happier now.
Stay casual everyone!
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Jim Sterling, Journalism, My future, Revelations
