An executive producer for the CBC nightly news program, The National, has responded to a concerned viewer who wrote in to complain about the lopsided coverage of #GamerGate on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s premier nightly news program. Thankfully, the executive producer acknowledges that the portrayal of #GamerGate may have been mischaracterized on media platforms.

After four months of battling against a very uneven and misleading assault on video game culture at the hands of games media and mainstream media, one individual at the top of the chain has at least acknowledged that the coverage deserves a more even hand.

One Canadian native wrote in to the CBC’s ombudsman after various hit pieces were published about #GamerGate. Going by the Twitter handle Lunar Archivist, he published an e-mail response from The National’s executive producer, Mark Harrison. According to Harrison…



“#GamerGate has multiple aspects, I understand that, but two main topics: Ethics in games journalism and the treatment of women in gaming. I also understand that it is the subject of continuing controversy, if not contention among gamers and others. But as interesting as the issues it raises are – and they are very interesting – this report wasn’t really about #GamerGate at all, although it was mentioned at one point almost as an aside.”

“While this report merely touched on the subject, we are continuing to follow the #GamerGate story

closely, especially its concern with journalistic ethics, and will watch for an opportunity to carry more on it in the coming weeks.”



I found Harrison’s one statement about the report not being about #GamerGate to be in complete contrast with how the segment on The National was actually conveyed to the general public.

If you visit the official CBC page [backup] that carries the piece, you’ll notice that the headline for the segment is titled: “Gamergate” sparks conversation on gaming culture.

If the report wasn’t about #GamerGate then why was the report titled after the hashtag?

I decided to reach out to Harrison to get an explanation as to why #GamerGate was part of the headline if the consumer revolt surrounding a scandal in games media wasn’t the focus of the report. According to Harrison, the report should have focused more on harassment and abuse and not #GamerGate…



“It would have been best if the emphasis had been placed on the conversation about harassment and sexism in the industry.”



It’s true, the report could have been done without any mention of #GamerGate. Unfortunately, the conversation about harassment and sexism in the industry became an adjunct of #GamerGate due to the media spin; a large part of that spin comes from groups like the Game Journo Pros pushing the narrative until it reached mainstream press.

The hashtag itself actually represents a consumer revolt spawned from a scandal that started over various forms of impropriety and indiscretions carried out by games media [learn more about the media’s corruption via the GamerGate Wiki]. Sadly, some of those same problems have also surfaced from mainstream media outlets as well.

Nevertheless, Harrison further acknowledged the media slant on #GamerGate and the importance of discussing the issue of ethics in journalism, stating…



“As I have written to some of our viewers, I fully understand that gamers are angry and frustrated at media coverage that too often appears to misunderstand #GamerGate, tarnishing what they feel should be seen as a noble cause with allegations of abuse and harassment.”



The unfortunate reality behind a lot of the coverage is that proof of #GamerGate being a harassment campaign has never been provided, something that’s addressed in articles like the one by the Daily Caller. Worse yet is that many of the prominent individuals pushing #GamerGate forward are actually women; a number of women are also involved with the #GamerGate harassment patrol, which was responsible for finding and reporting Anita Sarkeesian’s death and rape-threat sender.

Dr. Christina Hoff Sommers has also been one of the more prominent figures speaking on behalf of #GamerGate, but journalists either refuses to acknowledge that she does not support the radical movements pervasive in today’s media circles, or they attack Dr. Sommers with politicized commentary.

Consumers didn’t turn #GamerGate into a divisive issue; it turned divisive by those engineering sociopolitical agendas.

However, Harrison further acknowledges that the treatment of women is an issue, but also that #GamerGate is about ethics in games journalism…



“The thing is, while it may have started as a well-defined topic, as with most hashtags, this one too has morphed and changed. #GamerGate now has multiple aspects, among them, certainly, ethics in game journalism. The treatment of women in gaming is another. Both are important.“



While some may still see a conflation between harassment and #GamerGate in Harrison’s comments, the reality is that an executive producer for a major television network has come to terms with the major goal of the movement: it’s about reforming a broken and distrustful sector of the gaming industry, it’s about cleaning up ethics in journalism.

Acknowledgment from the opposition that the goals of #GamerGate are legitimate – an issue that was once contested as non-existent – is a major step forward in changing the disruptive narrative being peddled by various factions of the media.

(Main image courtesy of Jhubs)