Jaffe Responds to Sensationalist CNN Anchor
By Joseph Christ on February 1st, 2013 (20 comments)
Earlier today the story of CNN anchor Erin Burnett breathlessly trying to get Psychologist William Pollack to pin some of the blame on recent shootings to video games -and Pollack simply not taking the bait leaving a dejected Burnett to end the segment- made its way into the Arena Of The Internet. And as these things go, the crowd of the Arena, namely us, now have our opportunity to boo, hiss and throw all sorts of rotten vegetable-like substances at the clown-show before us.
And not without good reason. As the gun debate continues in America -as it should- people are inevatibly turning to the long defunct argument that surely it must be the video games playing a part in all of this violence. You can tell how stale the argument is as soon as Burnett starts talking about Grand Theft Auto and they start showing footage of GTA III in a feeble attempt to make their point.
This is not about having a debate, and certainly not about elevating the discussion. This is about sensationalism and fear-mongering. And I write about video games...I know sensationalism when I see it.
But the crowd did boo, and we did hiss. And yes, multitudes of rotten, slimey vegatables have been thrown. But one might stand out from the rest. God of War/Twisted Metal icon and creator David Jaffe also took to twitter to rebuke the accusations flying our way and they are, for lack of a better word, glorious. Jaffe is a bit known for throwing his public indignation toward game writers who tend to bend stories to fit their CPM margin, so it's nice to see some of that fire turned toward something we can all agree could use a little firing.
His rebuke was done via twitter and is presented below followed by the interview in question:
Dear @ErinBurnett : you, ma'am, are at best an idiot that @cnn should be ashamed to have as an anchor. At worst, you are the worst kind of American: one who has allowed the healthy desire for success to morph into a capitalistic cancer that makes it ok to ignore the facts in order to make your product more appealing, regardless of the consequences. To make matters worse, your own views about video games- which you seem to have no problem sharing with your hundreds of thousands of viewers- clearly have not been formed by any actual research or real life experience with the medium.
I am sure you will think yourself quick and insightful when you tell me- a video game director/designer accusing someone from another industry of making products for profit regardless of consequence- that I am the pot and you are the black kettle. However, if you actually listened to your guests and read the studies (aka if you actually did some....some....hmmm, what's that word you journalists have for it? Oh right: RESEARCH!) you would see you are wrong; you would see there remains- after years of studies- zero evidence of video games with violent subject matter causing real life violence.
On the flip side- you know: YOUR side- there is very real evidence that our society suffers greatly when our news media fails to properly inform the public.
The fact that you think a guy who 'trains'* on a shooting video game would be granted the skill to horrifically, tragically kill those CHILDREN in Norway only serves to show how little research you do before you open your mouth in front of your world wide audience under the guise of delivering news. I'm not sure what makes your argument look more ignorant: the fact that you don't back up your idiotic statement by showing a correlation to the current health of America's agriculture sector with the popularity of Farmville OR the fact that the sick, deranged evil loser who killed those poor kids in Norway had picked such a poor 'training' tool that after 700 hours of play, he was only capable of hitting little kids with his bullets versus the well armed pretend terrorists and highly skilled virtual soldiers that he was battling in the game.
Shame on you. But more importantly: shame on your profession. It deserves so much better.**
David
*'Train' is such a stupid, irresponsible verb that you- without a shred of guilt- chew into with relish and repeat over and over because you know it helps sell your false story.
** I know journalism deserves better than you because I really love Sorkin's The Newsroom plus I saw Broadcast News back in high school at least 5 times (I had a crush on Holly Hunter- so sue me!) which means- in your world- I must have the equivalent of a journalism degree from Columbia plus a few years experience working for The Washington Post (back in the 70's, I mean, when it was really something special). So because of that, I know you will trust me when I tell you that you are not right for your current job and that you should quit and go try to be on something like The View or try to act in a movie or some such.
Joseph Christ
Joseph Christ is the Reviews Editor and a Podcast Personality at 4Player. Specializing in reviews, editorials, drinking, and saying inappropriate things about gaming franchises that are beloved by millions, his satirical and sometimes edgy style offsets a more serious and penetrating substance lurking below the surface. He is also the host of the Cocktail Time Podcast. You'll follow his Twitter if you know what's good for you.
|
Follow Us
|
Back to the Top
|
|
|
© 2012 4Player Network All rights reserved |
Log in or sign up |
That darn "Rock and Roll" music causes violence, too!
Link / ReplyRemember that mission in Assassin's Creed where they're burning books and killing tons of people because "books make you give up god"? I always think of that in these situations. Just how fucking crazy and backwards the "face" of the world is, but how in the end fifty years down the line people will look back at this and unanimously go "How were we ever so stupid?" while simultaneously fearing and hating the newest technological wonder.
Link / ReplyThose are some VERY harsh words. I really just hope she or the rest of CNN comes out and actually report on the research. I feel everyone in the industry should be writing to these people and telling them the real news and demanding it be put out there so serious mistakes do not happen.
Link / ReplyI thought the same thing - that was a pretty chastising response. But he makes a valid point minus the personal insults (even if I think she deserves them).
Link / ReplyI'm glad he mentioned Aaron Sorkin's "The Newsroom" because I have recently been rewatching that show, if you haven't seen it you REALLY should, and it's so true that the main problem in society today is the media. The skew topics for ratings, not showing certain sides, and ignoring facts. When a shooting happens all they do is talk about the shooter in every possible detail, glorifying him, and they might mention the names of the people who were shot. Kinda makes me sick...
Link / ReplyAlso I just watched the video with Erin Burnett and Psychologist William Pollack and I am just dumbfounded. It amazes me how little people know about the game industry and the proceed to tell people, people who trust the media, all about those bad games. Burnett says in regards to GTA "When you kill people you win points. Right? For example you kill a prostitute and that's a big thing. You get to win points." Win points? That has nothing to do with GTA! There are no points in GTA! I'm not saying they need to be experts on video games but I know for a FACT there is someone who works at CNN that Burnett has access to who plays games and could probably give her a 5 min run down on video games. At the end of the video when Pollack keeps emphasizing that there is no correlation between video games and gun violence, which studies have shown there isn't one, it seems like she gets upset that they brought this guy on and he doesn't side with them. GAH this makes me angry!
Link / Reply"people who trust the media" Aaaah! People do tha?! Who are these crazies???
Link / ReplyLove that. Something to at least get people thinking about the media.
Link / ReplyNews Anchoring: you get points for misleading people, it's kind of a big thing right?
Link / ReplyAs much as I love responses like this, and David Jaffe, I think the fact that he resorted to insulting the anchor discredits him. He looks reactionary and aggressive. This fuels the arguments journalists use against the gaming community. We all KNOW he's right, but talking down to someone doesn't validate that correctness. Keeping a cool head in a heated situation is half the battle. I'm more impressed by the way Adam Sessler handled the topic in his interview. PS that's a long ass tweet.
Link / ReplyI think the original anchors piece was reactionary and aggressive. Jaffe is only responding in kind.
Link / ReplyI completely agree that the woman is reactionary, aggressive, pushy, ignorant, etc. But that doesn't excuse Jaffe from taking the high road. His statement doesn't improve the perception people have of the industry. It's the kind of reaction journalists feed off of.
Link / ReplyJust goes to show what a gentleman and scholar Adam Sessler is. Although Jaffe is also quite the scholar as well, in his own sense.
Link / ReplyThe biggest difference here however is that fact that in the interview with Sessler, the anchor never purposefully talked over Sessler, or try to force anything on him. They both were calm and collected in a simple ask and answer format. Unlike this dumb broad who has NO idea what she is talking about. I am curios to see how Sessler would keep his head cool if this was his interviewer, because I sure as hell wouldn't.
Link / ReplyNo, it would've been best if he kept his cool. It's only professional. If he even expects anyone to take his words seriously, he wouldn't have stooped to their level. This is part of us, people who love games, proving ourselves that we can enjoy violent video games and still be civil people about it.
Link / ReplyGot to love them dredging up GTA3 footage and the stupid killing people for points comment. But good to see one of these guests, say out right that there is no connection.
Link / ReplyAll media is competing for the finite time of the consumer. Videogames as scapegoat is no different to violent movies as scapegoat, counter-culture music as scapegoat and even comics and controversial literature as scapegoat. It has to be acknowledged that all these media are not averse to using sensationalism as a crutch or marketing tool at times, but those media are very clearly entertainment based and not aspiring to be an impartial arbiter of facts like the News Networks are. When they skew towards sensationalism the cost is far greater since policy and public opinion are shaped by facts which when distorted and corrupted by sensational, irresponsible News Casting then become questionable if not useless. The Newsroom is good but go to the source and watch the movie "Network". It is extremely well written and astonishingly prescient even today.
Link / ReplyIt amazes me that they let idiots like this talk about things they know nothing about. It would be fine if she actually listened to the guy or you know... did some research, but she just acts like her opinions are facts and takes advantage of the fact she is on TV to shove her views down our throats. Disgusting.
Link / ReplyHuh. That woman reminds me of that psychologist they had talk about Mass Effect.
Link / ReplyI'm not sure why this is a shock to anyone anymore. This kind of scapegoating has been happening for generations, not just with video games obviously, but with any sort of popular trend, particularly when it's a youthful trend. It really boils down to one thing: the leaders of our nations follow an unmistakeable political calculus for getting elected, that being to kowtow to where they will receive the most votes. In the case of the US in particular, youth voting turnout is dismal at best. So if you're a politician looking to get elected, are you more likely to follow what the studies have said about the connection of video games and violence thus securing the tiny youth vote, or are you more likely to play into the fears of a much larger voting bloc (that being the middle-aged and senior vote) by playing up the sensationalist news of video games (a new medium most of those voters have never delved into) cause violence (a problem our society has yet to solve and whose source is not apparent). The answer is pretty unmistakeable and this cycle of pushing the blame onto the easiest target will continue until people start to rise up against such powers. People need to voice their concerns, by voting with their wallets by not supporting such garbage media (and making sure they know that's the reason why) or supporting candidates who do speak the truth and don't push this kind of fear-mongering. Only then will true change come.
Link / ReplyNew Comment