ZD "Objective Reporting" Not Just For Linux

keefer writes "Since I know /. readers are generally fans of various ZD magazines anyway, I thought I'd pass this along that I saw from Blue's News. The gist is that programmer Randy Pitchford at Gearbox Software gave a .plan update talking about a piece Family PC(a ZD mag) did relating to some under-17-year-old supposedly being able to pick up Half-Life: Opposing Force, an M-rated game (17+), without incident at a CompUSA store. However, um, the game isn't even done yet, let alone gold or on the shelves."

I thought I'd post this in the YRO section for a couple of reasons. One is that it's starting to reverberate, and has generated at least one counter-editorial. But the second is a larger point. Half-Life and similar games are marketed to adults, not children; the 20-30 year old age group purchases almost all of these types of games. Yet attackers want to restrict the sales of these games to anyone on the basis that they're unsuitable for children. The fact that Family PC misjudged the game's release date when making up their article (remember, this had to be written months ago to make it to publication now, they probably forecast that the new game would be on sale by now) makes the attack more obvious, but these sorts of attacks happen all the time from the "save the children" crowd. (Family PC makes most of their income from advertising filtering software and similar snake-oil parental protective measures.) This is how you whip up the troops to go censor the internet or whatever other target you have in mind.

Comments

Its a typo, they said so.

[Roofus]

From the Shugashack




Subj: Re: Letter to the editor from Subscriber James Gillespie,North Fort
Date: 10/12/1999 9:31:26 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: fpcletters@zdnetonebox.com (FamilyPC Letters)
Reply-to: emily_friedlander@zd.com
To: JWGflorida@aol.com
Mr. Gillespie,

Thanks for bringing this error to our attention. It was a typo on an editor's part that through a series of edits,
made it to print. Watch for the correction in our January issue.

Thanks again,
Emily Friedlander



Even though, I must say that is really some shady reporting!

Feet to the fire

[evilpenguin]

This kind of story is why I don't like seeing "anti-/." stories out there. I'm over 30 and much of that youthful zeal is gone, so I frequently cringe at the loud and uninformed zealotry of some of my fellow /.ers, but usually, I think, their on line ranting is harmless and it is giving a place for a sort of populist rage to vent safely. Meanwhile, almost every thread has a few particles of true insight, information, and wisdom.

I happily put up with the flames to find those insights I would have missed.

One of the things I like about sites for nerds, linuxers, et. al., is the way they (we) subvert the mass media of the industry. The recent PCWeek debacle ("If I had installed the RedHat patches, I would have missed 'Baywatch.'" -- see the story on Linux Today) is a fine example of this. This story is another.

Okay, so individuals (including me) sometimes type faster than we think. So what? We think eventually. And we don't let lies go unchallenged.

Never be afraid to point out a falsehood! ZD deserves very little journalistic respect. This has nothing to do with the perceived OS bias, and everything to do with poor standards of fact checking and a complete lack of journalistic integrity.

Keep your eyes open. Catch them in the act...

Changing face of journalism.

[Matt2000]

Its an interesting time for journalism and journalists right now. Especially for those publications that deal with technology related issues. With the increasing speed of developements, the proliferation of information sources and the raw speed at which a story can propogate and grow on the Internet, journalistic integrity is having a tough time weeding out the fake stuff.

Slashdot itself is most certainly not immune to this effect and has on more than one occasion contributed to the spread of an incorrect of exagerated story, perhaps causing other more traditional media sources to pick up on the story themselves.

Unfortunately at this point in time, we can't have both lightning fast information reporting with 100% accuracy. The two are inversely related.

Hotnutz.com

This post rated MA

[jabber]

The whole 'typo' issue aside... Mark me Offtopic if you want.

I find the whole idea of restricting access for everyone to anything, because it is not appropriate for a subset of those interested - nauseating. Posting that idea on slashdot is sure to be marked Redundant, fire away.

How are we to protect ourselves from those seeking to protect us from ourselves?

As with the MPAA, TV ratings and music, is it not the parents responsibility to monitor what their kids are into?

[rant]
I realize that there are plenty of ingenious teens and pre-teens out there, able to pull the wool over their parents eyes - I was one of these myself. But if this is the case, than it is a failing of the parents. How can someone who does not put in enough effort to stay aware, raise a child? How can a child from such a home grow up with any sort of respect for authority (boss, law, peers) if they see their own parents as full of ignorance, incompetance and apathy.
[/rant]

Yes, technology moves fast, and working parents have a hard time keeping up with it - while kids have plenty of disposable time. But really, is it so difficult to talk to your kids, peek in on the lucky few that have their own PCs? Stay aware?

Conversely, as a future parent (God willing), after I approve a game for my kids entertainment, I want them to be able to go and get it themselves. I want the decision about what they can and can not do to be made at home, and not in a board room or a court room.

Frankly, the whole politically correct and sue-happy attitude is starting to trouble me. Cinema managers requiring that parents be present, after they permit their kids to see South Park? Clerks policing who can and can't buy a video game? You can't send a kid to school with aspirin, because it is a drug, and we know what school rules say about dealing drugs in school. Five year olds getting thrown out of kindergarten for kissing a classmate on the cheek...

It looks like this (video game availability over the counter) is going to become another instance of parents abdicating control to some organized, rightist organization - just to avoid taking the time to explain to their kids why they feel that blasting people's avatars into oblivion is inappropriate.

Feels like we're reaching critical mass here. But unlike the Japanese uranium workers, I'm starting to see red, not blue.

Re:Media Manipulation

[rde]

Speaking as a bisexual female programmer
I wouldn't mind a job programming bisexual females. Where do you work and are there any open- uh, employment opportunities?