Adverjournalism: The Role of Ad Dollars In Journalism The jump from being a “strong title” to being “disappointing across the board,” is questionable at best. But this is the reality of it, and people hold these sites in such high regard. What they need to realize is that when a publication is put on such a lofty pedestal, advertisers are attracted to them like moths to a flame. And at that point, the thousands of dollars that are thrown around become increasingly difficult to manage, and that’s when mishaps such as Jeff’s take place.

Supposedly, the Kane & Lynch debacle was settled weeks ago, but it’s very possible that Eidos recently decided to pull future ad campaigns, which definitely could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for the bigwigs at CNET. Like it or not, the “professional” sites, whose opinions seemingly matter most, battle with the balance of journalistic integrity and advertising relationships day-in and day-out. And it should come as no surprise that it’s the “community” sites that are much more resistant to these influences because advertisers aren’t flocking to them as frequently.

I think a reason this situation has created such a huge ripple throughout the industry is because it’s the first time that it has happened to a publication such as GameSpot, as far as we know. Like I said before, this kind of thing happens all the time. In fact, years ago, a game publisher attempted to bribe one of our writers to bump up a score we gave out. We of course turned them down. But open your eyes people; this is the state of affairs. Publications need advertising to pay salaries. And if you look outside of the world of gaming, you will see this is not an isolated event; it happens in more mainstream forms of journalism, and I might add that this could be even seen as a sign of growth for our industry.

I remember a story from an old college professor of mine who works for Time Inc.: Time magazine published an article that slightly badmouthed one of IBM’s computers, which resulted in the computer giant in pulling its advertising for the following three years. Whether or not the writer was fired, I don’t know. I don’t believe so, but I can’t be sure. The bottom line is that the industry has gotten to the point where situations like this even exist. We’re no longer in a state of being so tightly knit together that everyone is rubbing elbows, and honestly that was bound to happen if the industry was going to grow to a respectable enough size where it can contend with the likes of its entertainment brethren.

As the industry grows, more money is circulated, and money begets corruption. It’s a fact of life and it’s a fact of capitalism; this is America after all. Jeff Gerstmann was merely the first high ranking casualty, but the man isn’t dead; he’s an exceptional writer and I’m sure we’ll all see him back in action soon enough.

We’re not parading what happened to Jeff as an acceptable event. The Boston Massacre wasn’t an acceptable event. But it was the first shot that sparked a revolution; and perhaps that is what we’re on the brink of: a journalistic revolution; and oddly enough, it may be the blogs and “community” sites, whose opinions never carried as much weight, who lead this coup d’etat.

I’m not trying to say that the tables will turn and “community” sites will swap spots with Gamespot and IGN; realistically speaking, that will never happen. But it’s very possible that the “community” sites will be very much like the villagers with torches and pitchforks who act as the catalyst for change. Gamespot and IGN will surely remain on top, despite protest and petition, but the journalistic practices of sites such as Gamer 2.0 may become more closely scrutinized in the coming years.

I send my regards out to Jeff and offer him a high ranking unpaid position on the East Coast should he be looking for a change of scenery. If not, we look forward to hearing from him soon elsewhere.

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