X360 -
I just read a load of subjective, judgmental nonsense dressed up as objective analysis on VGchartz (go on, click it. It’s gagging for traffic), in which the author criticises three major games blogs for having fun with their content and being creative in the ways they compete for traffic. It’s subjective because it doesn’t lay down any objective criteria as to what is and isn’t acceptable – it’s just decided entirely according to this guy’s personal preferences. There’s nothing wrong with subjectivity in any kind of journalism – in fact, it’s often the most truthful kind of reporting – so long as it isn’t pretending to be objectivity, and that’s exactly what this piece is doing. Bias, favouritism and fanboyism are problematic, but they’re not necessarily the same thing as subjectivity.
The article does at least highlight some genuine issues with games journalism. It is true that any publication that runs coverage based on privileged access to a game and/or development studio, and any publication that earns revenue through game advertising (including this one and its associated magazine on both counts) does so based on a relationship of trust with games publishers. This relationship doesn’t mean the publisher specifies what can or cannot be written or what scores should be given in reviews – although that doesn’t stop some publishers from trying – but it does mean that a lot of games journalists don’t always have free reign to say exactly what they want and may sometimes have to bite their tongues. It is also true that publications, especially online, gear their coverage towards maximising readership.
http://www.x360magazine.com/opinion/games-journalism-isn%E2%80%99t-broken/