It's a Funny Thing Really: Video Game "Journalism" and Ethics: Gray Area
If a video game website delays publishing a negative or average review of a big budget game until a few days to even a week after the games release, because the game just so happens to sponsor said website at the time…does that violate any ethical codes to you?
I was talking about this with a…
It’s the business model. As good as people are, if as a collective their bills are paid by “playing the PR game” they will inevitably be unethical. It’s why I feel sites like Giant Bomb are doing it right; they get money from their community (as well as ads). If they fuck up in an immoral way, they get less money. The motivation is to be awesome.
Then there is the acceptance that to be good, you have no choice but to be friends with PR people. How about; don’t expect anything from PR people, they are not your friend. Instead, buy your own games, don’t expect preview code, and concentrate more on other areas where you can excel, rather than “first”. Again, it’s about breaking dependencies.
