Well well well, looks like tabloid pissrag The Daily Star has finally gotten a taste of accountability. Earlier this week, The Star posted a libelous and grossly tasteless story, claiming that Rockstar was making a Grand Theft Auto game based on real-life murderer Raoul Moat. The paper has now apologized for the article.
Not only that, but the paper will also be paying a “substantial amount” of money to charity on behalf of Rockstar for the damage caused. Surprisingly classy from a paper with even less scruples than The Daily Mail.
“We made no attempt to check the accuracy of the story before publication and did not contact Rockstar Games prior to publishing the story,” admits The Star. “We also did not question why a best selling and critically acclaimed fictional games series would choose to base one of their most popular games on this horrifying real crime event.
“It is now accepted that there were never any plans by Rockstar Games to publish such a game and that the story was false. We apologise for publishing the story using a mock-up of the game cover, our own comments on the matter and soliciting critical comments from a grieving family member.”
Take a photograph. You will never see a British tabloid this humble and honest again.
The story sparked a huge backlash from gamers when it was published and The Star had to remove it the day it was published. However, the writer of the article, Jerry Lawton, remained unrepentant, mocking gamer culture and reveling in the harmful and irresponsible story he wrote. I guess he thought people would be on his side, but it turns out he was wrong.
Hey Jerry, this ain’t the nineties anymore, and gamers don’t just sit back to be your whipping boys these days!
[Thanks, CyMythic!]
Published: Jul 24, 2010 10:00 am