NOT MY JOB.

Here's a discussion topic that "game journalists" covering the interactive entertainment industry need to discuss: is it really our job to defend the game companies, the special interest and trade groups that represent them?


Are we analysts or journalists?


Do we want to be cheerleaders instead of reporting both sides of the issue? We need to stop slanting our articles one way or the other and get to the truth of the matter.

My thoughts on the matter are simple: I do not want to be the game industry's cheerleader or advocate – that's not my job and it bothers me that we are all considered no more than "enthusiast press" because of the way we handle topics like government intervention, censorship, and activists against gaming.

And on the other side – I am tired of covering the Jack Thompsons, the Townhall.coms, government officials and other people too lazy to do the research. If these people can't be bothered to actually play the material they are attacking then why are we parroting everything they say? But journalist covering our field should stop trying to be "experts" or analysts too. Let someone from the ESA or the game companies being attacked defend themselves.

Just something to chew on...