January 24, 2008 -
Jeff Brown (left), VP of Communications for Electronic Arts, has requested that Fox News correct Monday's disgraceful trashing of Mass Effect.As reported by Kotaku, Brown sent a letter to Teri Van Horn, producer of Fox News' Live Desk program on which the Mass Effect hatchet job was orchestrated. From Brown's letter:
As the parent company of BioWare... EA would like you to set the record straight on a number of errors and misstatements which incorrectly characterize the story and character interactions in Mass Effect.
Your headline above the televised story read: "New videogame shows full digital nudity and sex." Fact: Mass Effect does not include explicit or frontal nudity. Love scenes in non-interactive sequences include side and profile shots - a vantage frequently used in many prime-time television shows...
FNC voice-over reporter says: "You'll see full digital nudity and the ability for players to engage in graphic sex." Fact: Sex scenes in Mass Effect are not graphic. These scenes are very similar to sex sequences frequently seen on network television in prime time.
FNC reporter says: "Critics say Mass Effect is being marketed to kids and teenagers." Fact: That is flat out false...
Brown also named several of Fox's own programs for displaying a level of sexuality far beyond Mass Effect's single, rather tasteful love scene:
Do you watch the Fox Network? Do you watch Family Guy? Have you ever seen The OC? Do you think the sexual situations in Mass Effect are any more graphic than scenes routinely aired on those shows? Do you honestly believe that young people have more exposure to Mass Effect than to those prime time shows?
Comments
Also, demonstrating that the statements were made maliciously, that they are unreasonable beliefs, and that they do actual harm to EA are all difficult points to prove. It'd be a tough battle, and in the US close calls regarding the legality of statements always are decided in favor of those making the statement. The case exists, but it's not easy.
(Of course, should Fox refuse to apologize when offered refuting evidence, the case might become easier. Who knows...)
"This is not a legal threat" is corporate speak for "This is not a legal threat yet."
I don't know if American TV has ethical standards (my country does), but if it does, there's an obligation from Fox News to correct the story, even if it just a 10 second prepared statement.
Exactly what I was thinking. Who owns Fox? What sister companies have links to video games?
Back to business, Even though I work for a competing game company I'm glad EA took a step in the right direction and if they don't get the response they want i hope they press further.
Hi Andrew! Gosh, we really need you over in the UK right now.
In case anybody missed Nightwing's comment about Faux News winning the right to lie, here's the story in full:
http://www.projectcensored.org/Publications/2005/11.html
Agreed. While I work for an EA competator as well, it brought me and my office great joy to see them stand up to slander like this. It is about time that someone decided not to lay back and take it as the "new medium" and fight back for our rights not only as gamers, but as game developers, reviewers, and the industry in general. I know that if I had met one of these Fox people on the street, and they called me a "pornography peddler" that would be grounds for a solid punch in the mouth.
A) Ignored and never read
B) Talked about for five seconds before opening up with Cooper again talking about how men are evil and video games enforces their male ideals
C) Given to Fox's resident Troll Bill O'Riley who will do nothing but insult EA and Gamers in general.
Employees expose Fox News Distortions
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9E-5KivgwO4
Fox News Admits Bias:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mZFZ_w_oXXc
Rupert Murdoch of Fox News Admits Manipulating the News for Agenda:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0K2pLo8JV5Y
This is why I stick to either network news, CNN, or MSNBC. Fox News is garbage, plain and simple.
If the letter didn't threaten to sue, it should have.
I gotta agree with you on the points you made, but I'm hopeful that this is a step in the right direction. Companies need to stand behind their games just as EA is doing here and the ESRB has gotta start helping out with more then just spouting information vids about the rating system. The systems been around for how many years? It works already, we get the idea! Start standing by your ratings, game companies put you in charge to be a self regulating body, either start by helping the fight with morons like Fox, or we might just see fit to remove you...
Kudos to the CEO of EA!
Knowing media types, Fox's likely response will be to hem, haw, and hope people get bored until the threat goes away.
Actually, ignoring it might not be a bad thing. The comments that they're making are obviously false and could be considered defamatory and/or slanderous. If they don't offer a retraction, then EA might sue them. That would be a real shot in the arm for the VG industry if they sued for slander and WON.
Sadly, they will probably try to "spin" it (I still call BS on that whole "no spin" crap they talk about..they must keep the whole building rotating so they don't notice how bad it is) and try to make it look like either we are fighting to keep porn in kids hands, or as a bunch of kids throwing a fit. They will NEVER give an apology or even admit that they lied. Sad but probably true.
@GamerDad
You cheeky bugger. You had a few people scared for you.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1599211793/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
It's only fair. She "reviews" a game without ever playing it (or doing any form of research on it), and so we "review" her book without reading it.
But I'm not a leader, and just another of the rank and file... and I find those "reviews" hilarious.
I've already said it, but I'll repeat it again : it's not fair. It's "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", and the people who do it are in no way better than her. She acted stupidly ? Of course. But does it give us the right to be as stupid as her ? Wouldn't it be smarter to email her directly and point her mistakes in a civil way ?
Worse, they make gamers look like a bunch of vengeful, angry, immature ayatollahs. Plus, put yourself in the shoes of the non-gamers who never heard about this : they will only see angry off-topic reactions without understanding why there is such anger. And they'll consider Cooper Lawrence as a "victim of a gamers' harrassment campaign".
Talking about Fox News, has anyone read previous coverage of "Mass Effect" ? It makes me wonder if they read their own reviews :
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311910,00.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316996,00.html
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Papa Midnight
I did post a comment to the Boardwalk Ambush book mentioned in a prior artcile, but that book I borrowed from a friend and read, so I felt justified in commenting on that... book (spoken in slathery disgust). At any rate, neither Harrison nor Lawrence will be collecting royalties from me.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
PS. OT: Great to see you back in action GamerDad! :)
its ON!
that Cooper woman can shut it, she is just another sensationalist pro-woman turd, she'll be dead soon anyway, soon all of these people will be dead and we will take their place when we are their age (god forbid I look like such a jerk when I am pushing 40!)
I know gamers of ages 9 through 99, it is amazing to think that people still classify games as a child's entertainment, amazing and upsetting
good luck EA (man I feel dirty now!) but yeah, turn this into a proper lawsuit, they may have the so called "right to lie" but they don't have the right to attempt the restriction/sabotage of sales of any medium of entertainment, and on that grounds they sure as hell have a case!
Oh, and I just started playing Mass Effect myself. It is one thick piece of "Space Opera" (and I mean that in a loving way). I would expect any "sex crazed teenage boy" to have fallen asleep hours before the sex scene occurs.
As to the game having negative female stereotypes, I seriously wounder what game this woman was thinking of. Thus far all the female characters I have run into are strong, intelligent and skilled in their professions. The female human who is in my party has earned my respect for single handedly comforting a man who's wife had died in the line of service. If anything I would accuse this game of bening too positive in it's depictions of women thus far! Come on, we can be slime balls too!
I don't want to appear to be a broken record on this, but I've been saying this all comes down to marketshare. There is alot of people in old-media who are more than willing to slander new-media. It becomes difficult to be un-biased and disinterested (basic journalistic qualities) when a issue in one way or another effects your own paycheck.
I'll give you an example of that in action. CNN entertainment reporter AJ Hammer was talking about the WGA writers strike when he mentioned that Warner Brothers (part of Time Warner, parent company of CNN) was going to lay off a few thousand people. He said on air how he was upset about the whole situation. Also, I once heard a conversation between FOX News and FOX Business news commentator Neil Cavuto talking with Murdoch (shortly after News Corp finally aquired The Wall Street Journal) about how Cavuto was upset with his own daughter beacause she only reads news online and never reads any newspapers. They talked about that for a couple of minutes.
My point; when a large corparation (like Time Warner or News Corp) has any kind of issue marketshare-wise, it effects the paycheck of the guy at the very top to the janitor that cleans up after said guy at the top. Marketshare is one of the main factors in why old-media has been going on a assult on new-media as of late.
Incidentally, the tags are kind of hilarious albeit also very appropriate: ignorant, hypocrite, bigot, hack, garbage...
On another note, it's been suggested that EA should go to one of the competitor networks in order to get a story aired about Fox's false statements. The problem is this will only allow Fox to play the "we're being persecuted by the liberal media" card again, and Fox viewers generally aren't going to be curious or discerning enough to figure out the truth. And if CNN or MSNBC wanted to do a story on Fox's journalistic lapses, they'd have thousands of better examples to pick from.
Also, to those who want EA to sue: No. This country is already litigous enough. EA has all the clout it needs - advertising dollars. It can (publically, but not with an official announcement), pull all ads from Fox and Fox affliates. As much as I hate them, EA's Madden, etc. ad spots probably fetch a pretty penny. See, no need to sue.
No lawsuits over a few minutes of hack television. However, threaten advertising dollars? Heck, yes, that happens more frequently.
~~All Knowledge is Worth Having~~
By saying that, it takes the pressure off Fox to issue an apology. So don't hold your breath expecting one. Why should they if they know there'll be no consequence? Even if there's no chance of it ever going to court, it would show that EA would be willing to fight if it came down to it. In effect it's like saying, "Please don't say any more mean things about our games Mr. Big News Corporation."
They didn't even have to threaten to sue. They could have just left that line out of the letter and left it ambiguous. It still would have made them think twice.
I do hope, though, that if Bioware themselves and more companies speak out, eventually the pressure will get to Fox and they'll issue a retraction just as we were able to do it to Kevin McCullough on a smaller scale. EA's rebuttal was a good start, even if they wimped-out at the last minute by not threatening to back up their actions.
They are all full of BS. I thinkly, largly due to Fox being unabashed about it and being rewarded with ratings, but none should be viewed favorably. If it's something I'm interested in, I have to go with a wide range of reports to get any idea of the real story.
If you take a single story, and really compare several news sources, you'll notice distinct differences in each of them. Each network tends edit things to fit their angle, each trying to make the news seem more interesting for whatever target demographic they are looking for.
Whenever a pundit is allowed to do a reporters job, just assume from the get go that it is utter crap. Network doesn't matter there.
This is why Yuki and yourself aren't Veeps of Communication of large companies. What do you thnk your shareholders would do if you threaten to sue Fox News over a few minute segment? Welcome to having your shares bought out from under you.
Come on, Jeff Brown handled this with class, tact, and enough info to set the record straight without getting the Fox Legal heavy hitters on his ass.
~~All Knowledge is Worth Having~~