Hey, have you had enough of the words “Trump” and “GamerGate” being in the same article yet? Me too, but this one is an interesting case. Instead of it being your typical article by someone who claims to be a journalist of video games, this article, titled, “Trump and GamerGate,” is written by Mari Landgrebe, a Business student at Texas State University, courtesy of Study Breaks, a website that is by students, for students. So not your typical article on the subject.

From the subtitle, you can tell that you are in for a treat. She claims that the president-elect is a sign for the resurgence of GamerGate, as if the group was gone in the first place. While the article starts with some rambling about how bad it was to be a millennial in the current year, the real beginning starts with an incorrect summary as to how GamerGate began. As the article states that #GamerGate start was with the Zoey Post, and that GamerGate doxed and harassed Zoey Quinn and other “prominent women developers”. As anyone who is actually affiliated with GamerGate can tell you, this is incorrect, both the start, and the idea of harassment.

While I know my audience is rather intelligent, and I don’t want to insult their intelligence with a summary of information they are already aware of, I am aware that the audience intended for the original article may find their way here, and I feel they deserve an accurate representation for how the group came to be.

While, yes, the Zoey post was one of the multitude of matches that started the fire. However, a fire cannot light without fuel, and the fuel came in the form of the August 28th, where a number of websites that claim to be for the gaming industry began attacking their audience. It was a reaction to the attacks on what was a silent audience. It was never about race, sex, or the like, as anyone in GamerGate can tell you that anyone is welcome in video games. The group has since grown, taking over a number of issues such as politics being forced into our hobby and censorship from people who, as many in GamerGate see, aren’t doing their jobs. What brings us to the group may differ, but the core group was never about keeping games white or male or doxing people who try to change games.

Make note, I will not make the claim that there aren’t people in GG who are guilty of these terrible acts, as I will not be guilty of the “No-True-Scotsman” fallacy. It must be known that this is not the norm. Once is too many, and those who commit these crimes are looked down upon and condemned by the majority.

With that off my chest, I can continue. The writer thinks GG to be a bunch of boys and men who want to see sexy women with no people of color in “history, space or fantasy”. I’ve already explained why this is incorrect, so let’s move on. The author believes this supposed racism to be what brings a lot of them to Trump, even though the vast majority of GG has been shown to be Libertarian-Left on the Political Compass test.

Nevertheless, the main issue I have with this article is that through the vast majority of it, it tries to do what a lot of journalists have already done, demonize the gamer name. The idea that gamers are drawn to Trump because of racism is insane, and that Trump’s appointment of Milo Yiannopoulos is a sign of endorsement of GG even though Trump himself has gone on record saying that video games create monsters, and something has to be done shows a disconnect in the true state of how things are.

The rest of the article is trying to find a number of different names to call GG in order to sling mud, as if gamers haven’t seen enough mud to drown in thus far. It has the typical usages of “dude-bro” and “man-children” which I’ve seen so many times. I’ve developed a permanent condition where my eyes are perpetually rolling. This article is nothing new. It makes it feel like this is the stand of an author who wants to get in good by attacking an easy target.

However, I won’t call the author names. I’m honestly nonchalant about it because it’s something I see every day and only shows a lack of originality, which is not an insult, but rather a point that there needs to be new discussion amongst journalists. What is weird, however, is that although the author makes these bold accusations (which we’ve all heard a dozen times). Even so, the article doesn’t show us any real evidence. As the links provided in the article simply take the user to Polygon, Wikipedia, Kotaku and other websites that GG has had a long history combating.

The sources show a surplus of confirmation bias on the author’s part. If the author wishes to continue working in journalism, it will be important for them to learn about these research mistakes. What does bother me is a failure to research things from all angles. Before I wanted anything to do with GG, I wanted to make sure I was well-informed on their goals and way of handling things. Once I saw that they were rightfully disgruntled consumers, I made my decision. Nothing that bothers me more than a poor-informed choice, and the fact that the article shows a very low-level of research on the other side, it makes me believe they jumped the bandwagon as soon as it rolled by.

If the author had shown some initiative and tried to see things from another angle, I probably would have left it alone. However, this level of confirmation bias is extremely strong and needs to be talked about. Why not talk about the dozens of charities GG has supported and sponsored? Why not talk about how GG supported the Fine Young Capitalists’ attempt to promote women in the games’ industry? There is so much that can be said, and the big connection to Trump, as promised, by the subtitle?

It never happens. It’s like the article set out on being the groundbreaking piece being the nail in the coffin of GG, but it never comes to light. There is so little connection to Trump and seems to be just someone getting upset that GG is a thing. It’s almost frustrating. As it makes it really hard to write about the article…Honestly, it´s because it promises so much, but all it does in the end is to make a bunch of points and tries desperately to connect them only to fail. What else can I say about this article? I can only wish that this article had an actual point to debunk instead of a list of accusations that were already debunked two years ago.

Source:
Studybreaks
Gamers are dead articles
Gameobjective

Credit:
Robin Ek – Editor
Just Lyle ‏

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

***Disclosure***
I’m pro-GG supporter, and I think that Trump is more favorable than Clinton between the two candidates.

Justin Easler
Senior editor
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @masterjayshay

More by Justin Easler:

• “Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 5” is coming to PC and consoles on March 17th, 2022
• Ubisoft’s E3 2019 press conference – A pretty decent presentation for the most part
• Square Enix E3 2019 press conference – Probably Square Enix’s strongest E3 in a long time
• Bethesda’s E3 2019 press conference – Some pretty awesome games but not so many surprises
• EA’s E3 2019 press conference – More of what you expect, yet still underwhelming

Tags: #GamerGate, Donald Trump, Gamers, Gaming, Study Breaks, Trump