Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest seems like a simple thing to strive toward in the world of media journalism. However, that hasn’t always been the case throughout the near 10 months of the #GamerGate scandal going on. Instead, many journalists have taken up arms against consumers and directly after the original Kotaku scandal broke, journalists decided to go on a campaign claiming that “gamers are dead”. However, some journalists – after receiving a healthy dose of reality from a consumer campaign to notify advertisers about potential impropriety – have decided to turn from their old ways and embrace the culture of criticism from consumers and strive toward being more ethical. That’s exactly what happened with GameRanx.

The gaming website, ran by editor-in-chief Ian Miles Cheong, recently updated their disclosure clause on an article from September 14th, 2012 from Jenn Frank titled “5 Ways to Make Super Hexagon More Challenging”. The issue came into play when it was discovered that Frank had provided voice-overs for the game without disclosing it in her article. Some could view it as promoting a product she had a vested interest in.

As of May 31st, 2015, the article has been updated to reflect Frank’s participation in the game’s design, with the disclaimer reading…

“Disclaimer (Added May 31, 2015): The author of this piece provided the voice-overs for Super Hexagon.”

What prompted the change? An e-mail to editor-in-chief Ian Miles Cheong from Reddit user and resident Kotaku in Action user, plaidjester. He simply states “I e-mailed him”, sharing an image of the e-mail that you can check out below.

After Cheong was notified about the issue via the pleasantly worded e-mail, he replied saying…

“Thank you for pointing this out to me. Unfortunately the lack of a disclaimer at the time was an oversight on my part as editor of Gameranx. We assumed (wrongly) that everyone knew of her contributions to the game.”

As an avid gamer, this is the first time I’ve learned of Jenn Frank’s voiceover contributions to Super Hexagon. The disclaimer, as a gamer, is very much appreciated.

Nevertheless, some of you might be wondering why this is even newsworthy. Well, Cheong used to be one of the avid opponents of #GamerGate. Some of his Twitter comments can be viewed below (Warning: Strong language ahead).







So where did this about-face from Cheong come from? Well, the editor-in-chief at GameRanx recently wrote about the troubles of being involved with the “Social Justice Warriors” crowd. In a blog post on the Stillgray website, and covered by The Ralph Retort and Sargon of Akkad, Cheong writes about the troubles of toeing the line as a “Social Justice Warrior”, as well as dehumanizing people in the process. Sargon’s video sums it up nicely.

Ian Miles Cheong Apologises to #Gamers and #GamerGate Editor in Chief of Gameranx, Ian Miles Cheong, has apologised for his behaviour towards gamers during #GamerGate. Sources: https://stillgray.com/post/119992928665/what-games-mean-to-me https://theralphretort.com/gameranxs-ian-miles-cheong-apologizes-to-gamers-5026015/

Cheong’s willingness to allay his invectives toward #GamerGate could have been in result of the Operation Disrespectful Nod campaign to pull the sponsors from GameRanx that gamers put into effect over the past couple of months.

In any case, having a gaming journalist finally listen and attempt to work toward a more transparent and communicative stance could help in the long run to help temper the rage in the gaming community.

As it stands, #GamerGate has evolved from a scandal involving salacious behavior from gaming journalists to a more vigilant watchdog in the gaming industry to uphold ethics and right the wrongs of gaming journalists.