When I originally cooked up this piece for Blogcritics, there were several things I had to leave out, mostly because I needed it to be PG-13 so it wouldn't be blocked from "bad word" filters. Alas, now that it's been published in it's cleaner form, I am finally able to talk about the mainstream media's bullshit treatment of stories related to the world of gaming, specifically my favorite target: cable news.

Now, to begin with, let me tell you that my opinion of cable news is that it's a new yellow journalism (look it up on Wikipedia), but that it's journalism's yellow fever in that it's killing the entire industry with the bullshit stunts they pull on a regular basis. No newspaper or magazine or even Web site could get away with the half-assed job the big three cable networks pull off. Just ask the fine folks at the LA Times about how it worked for them... or at least the five people still employed there that haven't been laid off or ran out of the nearest exit at the first opportunity.

Anyways, onto the meaty fun of the story:

I don't know if the mainstream media has it out for video games and gamers, but if they don't, then they're not doing a very good job of covering it up, as another potential "controversy" has arisen on the airwaves. The latest barrage from the media seems to just be bubbling up to the surface. This time, it's manifesting itself in disgust towards a WiiWare game that's set to release sometime this year about the good ol' college game or beer pong. Except last time I checked, there wasn't actually going to be any references to alcohol in this game.

Still, the folks over at Headline News, the little sister network to CNN that they send shitty people liky Nancy Grace and Glenn Beck off to in order for their careers to die, trotted out psychologists and other experts on kids, who all decreed that this game and its Teen rating would lead kids to start drinking at a young age. Oh no! Not teen drinking! Good gracious!

No mention of any other form of media that children could access, like movies or television, where they might see similar amounts of drinking content. No mention of the fact that kids as young as 13 were already drinking before this game even came out. Just those experts spouting out the same talking points they always do.

Perhaps we should expect that kind of response, but what truly disturbed me is that they neglected to interview a single member of the gaming media or in the gaming industry about their thoughts on this. They simply ushered in those concerned with the problems this game might bring and left it at that. It is something I am much too accustomed to seeing nowadays, and a practice that needs to be stopped now.

It's not that these media outlets cannot find anyone to talk to on the air. It's that they willingly choose not to talk to any members of the gaming media with the intent of providing a biased perspective ideal for scapegoating the entire gaming industry as "evil corrupters of youth."

Sure, you might claim that they already do that through political coverage, but the difference is that most people know Fox News is as right wing as you'll ever see, CNN is left-wing except for that asshole Lou Dobbs, and MSNBC doesn't know what the hell it wants to be (Libertarian? Green? Free Soil?).

This isn't some blind accusation, either. Fox News is one arm of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation business, the same media conglomerate that owns IGN. However, it's been years since I have seen Fox News bring any member of IGN on the air, even high-ranking personnel like Tal Blevins, Peer Schneider or Jeremy Dunham. Instead, they choose to regularly trot out the likes of Jack Thompson to speak out on the dangers of violent games corrupting our youth. I don't think I need to say anything more.

Oh wait, yes I do. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!

But before it sounds like Fox News is alone in their conscious ignorance, let us not forget that MSNBC regularly has journalists from Newsweek appear on their programming. Yet, when the discussion of video games being "bad" comes up, the well-respected N'Gai Croal, Newsweek's technology and gaming editor, is missing in action. It's not like MSNBC doesn't realize he exists, right? ...Right?

And CNN? For someone who parades themselves around as the most trusted name in news, they haven't done a thing to earn the trust of those who game. You don't bring on your technology expert to talk about Grand Theft Auto IV, only to have them make statements about the game that could have been proven wrong with five minutes on Google. By the way, if anyone's found all the characters from Grand Theft Auto III in that game or where I get the chainsaw at in Liberty City, please tell me. I don't have a clue, but CNN's "technology expert" told me both were in there, so it must be true!

The solution for the mainstream media is simple: bring on people who are actually experts in what you're talking about and do your homework. No, not everyone can be like the late Tim Russert and be able to dig through every little last bit of a story, but that doesn't give you the right to get things blatantly wrong and then to project those wrongs as truths. On top of that, for people who say they are fair and balanced, your coverage is about as unfair and unbalanced in regards to gaming as I've ever seen. If you can't be bothered to find someone from within your own ranks who can bring some light to the issue, or if you don't want to go out into the industry and bring in the people involved in the story - developers, publishers, gaming industry experts, etc. - then do us all a favor and don't bother covering these stories. You only make yourselves look like fools and hypocrites.

As for the rest of us, we can act, too. If you see reporting like the stuff I've described, write to these networks. Do it repeatedly if you need to, and en masse. Let them know your opinions on the issue but please do so calmly and with a collected mind, as the last thing we need is them posting these letters and e-mails on the news and saying gamers are loonies. They can ignore five or 50 e-mails. They can't ignore 5,000 or 50,000.

Do I expect the mainstream media to change overnight? Do I expect them to give a damn that I even wrote this? No. But there's no reason we as gaming journalists and we as gamers should be left out of these conversations. If they won't give us room for our voices, we need to make sure they're heard in other arenas. Maybe then the truth can finally start to come out and the exaggerations and lies that are out there can be squashed.

Also, tl;dr.