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Home This is getting ridiculous updates

UK newspaper offers money for game violence stories

8:47 AM on 03.31.2008, Jim Sterling 83 comments

UK newspaper offers money for game violence stories photo
     This is getting ridiculous

Just when I thought the British media couldn't get more pathetic, a newspaper finds some way to both surprise and sicken me. A national paper is offering "hundreds of pounds" in exchange for stories from the public about how videogames turned them to a life of crime. This is the full advert. as it appears on a "talent" Web site for actors and actresses:

"A national newspaper wants your story and will pay hundreds of pounds to the right person.

Write a few lines about how computer games turned you to crime and if it's something we like, we'll call you straight back."

Tanya Byron said we need to stop blaming videogames. That is what she said. She suggested we need to stop the mass panic that surrounds games and actually get people educated, but she got ignored because that's not news. Instead, her report has been used as an excuse to not educate, but actively propagate the exact kind of scaremongering she wanted to see ended. If I were Byron, I'd be feeling pretty sick right about now, since all her hard work has been perverted by a bunch of braindamaged, subhuman parasites to promote the opposite of what she'd intended.

Actually, I don't have to be Byron to feel sick at this. Anybody with a shred of integrity would be disgusted by this grotesque little move. Offering actors money to claim that videogames turned them into criminals is possibly the most harmful and nasty scheme I've seen cooked up by the media yet. They say videogames encourage violence? What is this paper doing, if not that? 

And the worst thing is, the paper will get its little story, and yet more people will completely ignore the intentions of the Byron Report. I can't even work up the bile for this anymore ... I'm simply ashamed to live in the same country as these scumbags.


Next page: More United Kingdom stories




liqideos's Avatar
liqideos at 03/31/2008 08:47
There's a joke here...in which I liken my childhood of blowing in the NES cartridge slot, and doing the same thing to my girlfriend because of it...but it wouldn't work.
liquidninja's Avatar
liquidninja at 03/31/2008 08:50
I feel kinda bad for the people in country's who can't get the games they want because they're banned. All because of the of a miss characterization of games.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 03/31/2008 08:51
Video games got me hooked on the crack cocaine and made me sexually attracted to turtles. I'll take my check now.
Gemsi's Avatar
Gemsi at 03/31/2008 08:52
Any Idea on which paper, why do I have the feeling that it's the daily mail.
Cowzilla3's Avatar
Cowzilla3 at 03/31/2008 08:52
Fuck. As someone who works at a newspaper that isn't just bad because of the fact that it's completely biased it is also morally wrong and many levels. I don't know any journalist who would ever offer money for stories...

I just showed this to my editor and he's just as disgusted and doesn't give a fuck about games.
The Young Scot's Avatar
The Young Scot at 03/31/2008 08:54
Isn't it funny that the people who aim the most harsh and venomous criticism at video games for being "immoral" are usually the most devious little cretins to walk the Earth?

No, it's not funny at all.
Demtor's Avatar
Demtor at 03/31/2008 08:55
Fucking Journos
Anus Mcphanus's Avatar
Anus Mcphanus at 03/31/2008 08:55
I'm praying to God that this is some kind of April Fools joke...
power-glove's Avatar
power-glove at 03/31/2008 08:58
Nope, it probably isn't.
This is the link to the ad.
Pathetic.
xper's Avatar
xper at 03/31/2008 08:59
ScottyG's Avatar
ScottyG at 03/31/2008 09:00
When are you moving to the States again? ;)

I wonder what stories they'll get out of it... Hopefully at least all of the stories will suck and the paper won't print them.
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 03/31/2008 09:07
I'm glad they didn't muddy the waters by asking that the stories be true, or not offering to pay people.
aborto thefetus's Avatar
aborto thefetus at 03/31/2008 09:09
I am definitely writing an application to fuck with them. We all should just go and spam the shit out of this.
wardrox's Avatar
wardrox at 03/31/2008 09:11
I tried to sign up, but because it's a professional site for ACTORS, I had to pay, so stopped.

Podcastle rant pls.
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 03/31/2008 09:13
Wait, it's for computer gamers. It's well-known that PC gaming is the gateway to a cesspool of a life. I don't really have a problem with this anymore.
aborto thefetus's Avatar
aborto thefetus at 03/31/2008 09:13
Wait, I have to pay to be an asshole? Fuck that.
catsithx's Avatar
catsithx at 03/31/2008 09:17
Ill do it I need the extra cash
Boolean's Avatar
Boolean at 03/31/2008 09:17
JIM, APPLY FOR THIS. DO IT. NOW.

You could make up some bullshit story that videogames drove you to a life of drugs and hookers which caused your mother to disown you, then blame it on something the writers would have no clue about like “Majoras Mask” which “trains you to take on multiple personalities and realize that no matter what you do your life can be reset like a clock”. You get paid a few hundred pounds and the paper makes a dick of itself while you come out looking like a Goddam hero. Sounds like a sweet deal to me!
Anus Mcphanus's Avatar
Anus Mcphanus at 03/31/2008 09:23
@power-glove:
The ad is real but it doesn't say who wrote it so there could be a small chance that it's a hoax. For all we know the national newspaper bit could be a complete lie and it's just tag line to get more attention. I know I'm probably being naively optimistic but I just don't want to believe this.
Kif 's Avatar
Kif at 03/31/2008 09:26
Like people read Star for the articles. They just get it because Lucy Pinder gets her tits our every once in a while.
neveranything's Avatar
neveranything at 03/31/2008 09:28
I'll bet you one billion dollars it's something like The Daily Mail (I'm in the U.S. and even I know that it's not worth wiping my ass with). They didn't get the sensational story they wanted out of Byron's report, something I'm wholeheartedly thankful for, so they're going to get it any way they can.
CALkulon's Avatar
CALkulon at 03/31/2008 09:32
Sometimes I fucking hate this country. If this is the Daily Mail again, I'm going to lose myself in a fit of a rage. I hope the person responsible loses their job immediately, sadly they'll probably get a nice little bonus.
FatBologna's Avatar
FatBologna at 03/31/2008 09:33
SO, Jim...How many times a day do you hit "refresh" over at Kotaku? It seems to me that almost every article you put up at d-toid shows up over there just a little bit before your own "version" does. For one that touts journalistic integrity at every turn you sure aren't against cribbing notes from the bigger better guys are you?

Or maybe they're stealing from you?
BigPopaGamer's Avatar
BigPopaGamer at 03/31/2008 09:37
I would read it for Lucy Pinder.

Hey Jim, I know you are disgusted to live in a country with these scumbags, but at least you don't live in a country that goes to war with other nations based upon lies...whoops did I say that out loud?
wonky360's Avatar
wonky360 at 03/31/2008 09:40
I love it. Nothing says bullshit more. Pathetic.
I've lost count of how many people's heads I have jumped on only to find squishy pink stuff instead of coins, games are lying bastards.
Playing space giraffe might make me wanna hurt people. (sound of Jim powering up for a rage-fest)
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 03/31/2008 09:40
FatBologna: Have you any actual idea what blogging is?
brad drac's Avatar
brad drac at 03/31/2008 09:43
Disgusting, but really not any worse than any of the other tripe these dishrags print. I draw a small measure of relief that anyone who takes that idiotic garbage seriously is far too stupid to have any kind of serious impact on the world. This demonizing of gaming is just a temporary ordeal, same as it was for rock and rap and comics and every other new media that frightened and confused those on the far side of the generational gap.
Wexx's Avatar
Wexx at 03/31/2008 09:43
Silly newspapers. their medium is dying, so they have to get the public to write stories for them.

Also, I agree with Wardrox, Podcastle Rant pl0x.
McSnow's Avatar
McSnow at 03/31/2008 09:43
I like Booleans idea of faking it and getting the paper to look like a complete prat, better that then they find some money hungry cunt who can worm his way onto the paper by telling his highly exaggerated sob story of how he went on a rampage of rape and pillaging after playing Cooking Mama.
xper's Avatar
xper at 03/31/2008 09:48
FatBologna's Avatar
FatBologna at 03/31/2008 09:49
I suppose it's now considered a nice alternative to real theft? At least we get news AND your very own special brand of sanctimonious rants to make it feel more like it's your own opinion-based reportage and not just utter plagiarism ... I guess your location does limit your ability to find original stories as England's gaming scene is shit. Maybe you should just quit while you're ahead, or move somewhere else. Like Japan!
xper's Avatar
xper at 03/31/2008 09:54
can someone please ban FatBologna?
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 03/31/2008 09:54
Looks like we already got one lined up for the Moron Gauntlet.
FatBologna's Avatar
FatBologna at 03/31/2008 09:56
I guess the links and explanations change everything. Paint my face red. Expecting originality from the larger blogs was a losing battle on my part, I'll go back to my troll cave and masturbate now.
Uther's Avatar
Uther at 03/31/2008 09:56
Barbie: Horse Adventure made me kill my infant baby sister...
FatBologna's Avatar
FatBologna at 03/31/2008 09:57
I guess the links and explanations change everything. Paint my face red. Expecting originality from the larger blogs was a losing battle on my part, I'll go back to my troll cave and masturbate now.
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 03/31/2008 09:59
Looks like we already got one lined up for the Moron Gauntlet.

Hey, if he can double-post, I sure as hell can.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 03/31/2008 10:05
Aaah, FatBologna's just another trolling retard. It's been a few days since we had one. Sweet, now I know him, I can ignore him like the other stupid pricks.

Thanks for giving yourself up, FatBologna. I love how people like you are never subtle.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 03/31/2008 10:07
Also, this just in: Gaming blogs are no longer allowed to talk about the same news item. EVERY BLOG MUST HAVE A DIFFERENT STORY!!!!!!!
Boolean's Avatar
Boolean at 03/31/2008 10:07
FatBologna: This site is not about Dtoid getting street cred for posting the most current breaking news in a race to be first, it's about reading their take on the news and seeing what they think about it.

So yeah, stfu. Ban please.
glipe's Avatar
glipe at 03/31/2008 10:12
I got money taken off me by a newspaper because computer games caused me to have a successful and happy life. My active participation in charitable events only compounded the problem.

=(
wardrox's Avatar
wardrox at 03/31/2008 10:16
JIM YOU JUST FUCKING TOTALY COPY KOTAKU... AND MY CBLOG THAT NOBODY READS ZOMG YOU NEED TO DIE YOUR OPINIONS ARE RUBBISH AND i AM SOOOOOOOO GOING TO WRITE COMMENTS ABOUT YOU WHERE I DONT KNOW WHAT I'M ON ABOUT LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 03/31/2008 10:19
Wardox, you make a great point. Kotaku's original reporting on this story was just fantastic, and they certainly didn't base their story on a tip some reader sent in from another site.

But I still won't read your blog.
danski's Avatar
danski at 03/31/2008 10:19
Weird, lost my original comment to the void (hi, I'm new here.)

Another (or possibly the same) UK paper was recently outed for advertising similar payoffs to people with obviously tabloid-friendly stories (specifically immigration-related in the examples I've seen), so this technique isn't new. It's just plain weird to see games targeted directly.
FatBologna's Avatar
FatBologna at 03/31/2008 10:19
I like that any dissenting voice is passed off as a troll. I generally like destructiod. I've been a forum member longer than most here. It's the home-page on my browser. I like the writing, I like the community (for the most part). I apologize all-around for pissing anyone other than Jim off. I Just don't like you or your writing, Jim. It's all so based around this little quest to show the ills that gaming is having done to it, and in turn your own mental masturbation and ego-stroking from your "fanbase". "RIGHT ON JIM!! POWER TO THE GAMERS!!" I've never tried to "troll" because I generally could care less about what anyone thinks, but seeing you constantly putting up posts from other sites instead of finding your own stories is fucking irritating! I'd understand if your resources were lesser known, but 65% of the time you repeat Kotaku stories. I'm sure most people here read both sites and see you do it and just don't comment
for fear of being called a troll, or getting the condescending wikipedia "blog" definition link, I'll probably not write in this forum again (no big loss to any of you) but I'll be sitting back waiting for the day when someone else calls Jim out on the lame-ass self righteous "journalist" that he is. Then I'll get in touch with that person and much glad-handing will occur!

You'll rue the day, JIM STERLING!! '

Thank you, and good night/morning....
njsykora's Avatar
njsykora at 03/31/2008 10:22
The paper is either the Daily Mail or Murdoch's mouthpiece ie, The Sun.
king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 03/31/2008 10:26
facepalm.jpeg is right
Nessie's Avatar
Nessie at 03/31/2008 10:30
sigh. :/

Jack Thompson is clearly in the wrong country. Can we deport him?
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