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“IGN has always been the epicenter of gaming, movie, and geek culture insight”, well, at least they used to be. And back in 2014, IGN responded to the beginning of Gamergate after an outcry from critics and fans demanded that they answer. They responded with the featured article titled: “On the problem of harassment”. Many appreciated the sentiment that they stood on neutral ground in the culture war, and still others, such as Brianna Wu weren’t satisfied with their response. So Wu went on the offensive in her Tumblr post (and via Space Channel 6) calling out the site for not mentioning Zoe Quinn, Anita Sarkeesian, or herself as potential victims of “cyber harassment.”

Recently, Anita Sarkessian has made a name for herself as a self-touted “Critic of games, and media,” in the sense that she actually reviews said material. Although these claims have been disproved time, and time again, citing Sarkeesian’s own Youtube videos, and her Twitter timeline in which she admits she does not play games, nor is she a fan of all the media she reviews, she insists criticism of the material is important. Speaking on her reviews, Sarkeessian doesn’t actually review games, or movies—instead she simply critiques them.

Carolyn Petit serves as the “reviewer” for most of the videos on the Feminist Frequency channel, and Sarkeesian fills in the rest. The most-recent occurrence of Sarkessian’s folly came in the form of IGN publishing a featured article titled: “How Feminist Frequency is helping women, real and fictional“. In the article published under the name IGN staff, you see that it’s written on a slant that completely contradicts the feelings conveyed in their prior argument against being involved in Gamergate. The worst part was when you, the reader, were told your comments would be heavily moderated to provide a fair and balanced display of equal comments.

Readers quickly responded with their feelings, telling the staff that they would abandon the site, and that their allegiance with Sarkeesian was not appreciated at all. The IGN moderators tried to remain neutral in their comments, leaving broken and misunderstood comments and responses in their wake. With Sarkeesian as an integral part of Twitter’s anti-harassment team, and her recent trip to the United Nations, one must wonder where this story will end.

And for those who doesn´t know it, Gamergate was created due to the yellow journalism we witnessed from Kotaku, Polygon, and several other sites. And due to the content and the aftermath of IGN´s “How Feminist Frequency Is Helping Women, Real and Fictional” post. One can´t help to wonder if IGN has joined their ranks or have they always been there the entire time? Only time will tell.

Source:

On the problem of harassment – IGN

How Feminist Frequency is helping women, real and fictional – IGN



Credit:

Robin Ek – Editor

***Disclaimer***

This is a personal opinion of the writer, and it doesn’t necessarily represent the other writers (nor The Gaming Ground´s) opinions.



Kenay Peterson

The Gaming Ground

Twitter: @TheDark_Mage

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Tags: #GamerGate, Anita Sarkessian, Feminist Frequency, Gamers, Gaming, IGN