January 25, 2008 -
There's a new twist in the Mass Effect saga...MTV Multiplayer reports that an unnamed Fox News rep claims the network has invited Electronic Arts to appear:
A Fox News spokesperson, who declined to be named, stated, in full: “Fox News Channel has extended several invitations to EA through a company representative to appear on ‘Live Desk With Martha MacCallum’ to discuss ‘Mass Effect’ and the segment which aired on Monday. We have received no response.”
Meanwhile, EA VP Jeff Brown told MTV's Stephen Totilo that the online response to his protest letter to Fox News “has been a surprise and a little overwhelming.”
Via: Kotaku
Comments
You just made my day
If the journalist should somehow get the facts wrong, it is then up to the journalist to correct these facts.
This is what we used to call "journalistic integrity."
EA is not beholden to come on Fox News and fight for the truth. It is up to Fox News to present the truth.
Yet here people are complaining about this sex scene in a game. I am glad that EA has stood up for themselves. They should not go ont othe show. It is pointless. THey should continue to push for Fox News to publically apologize for and retract that segment.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
I just have this image dancing in the back of my mind that involves Admiral Ackbar. I’m in complete agreement that Fox isn’t trying to set the record straight, but rather is more interested in making it look like they tried to get the facts straight the first time around.
I’m completely appalled with the treatment of Geoff Keighley in the segment in the first place and it is painfully clear that the only reason he was there was to take a beating from by this Lawrence woman. Her tactics on the show reminded me of a certain Florida attorney which many others seem to have picked up on as well. She got what she deserved with the Amazon spamming and hopefully learned a valuable lesson about not shooting your mouth off about something you CLEARLY know nothing about.
As for the current situation… I sincerely hope that EA completely blows off Fox and instead goes to any other news network that would be willing to be part of a verbal bashing of Fox under the pretense of setting the record straight.
I may have some mixed feelings about EA as a company, but NO company deserves to be misrepresented like this. I’m personally mad enough about the whole situation that I think EA SHOULD move forward with a lawsuit. Libel, defamation, slander, and (biggest of all) loss of potential income because of the filthy lies they spread.
It probably wouldn’t bother me that much if there weren’t so many people willing to accept these types of news segments at face value. This hurts the entire gaming industry and makes out gamers to be mindless, violent, sex-crazed zombies.
Soooo upset…….
FOX: Games R Bad!
COOPER: Yep!
KEIGHLEY: Are not!
COOPER: Are too!
FOX: We're out of time!
Not enough for anyone to form an intelligent opinion. It's akin to letting two boxers each get one free blow on the other guy and using those two hits to decide the outcome of the match.
Actually it was more of this:
Fox: We are here to discuss why games are bad.
Cooper: Games are evil even though I have never played one.
Keighley: Games are not. I play them.
Cooper: They are bad.
Fox: We are out of time. Here are more people to tell us that games are bad.
Panelist in unison: Games are bad.
It really came out more like a school yard fight. The bully picks on another kid. The other kid actually starts to fight back. The bully gets his buddies to help him wail on the kid.
Not really fair.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
Fox: Print a retraction/correction/apology already.
Gawd, I'm cheering for EA here.
Well, really I'm cheering for Bioware. OK, I feel much better now.
Additionally, I keep waiting for MSFT to respond as well as Bioware directly. I would love to see MSFT & EA as well as affiliate companies and all game industry publishers and developers publically announce they will immediately stop advertising on News Corp subsidiaries unless Fox News ponies up someone's head and delivers a full apology to the companies, the developers and most importantly the gamers on TV as well as a full page notice in each of News Corps print media resources.
Moreover for the Bioware response I so want to see the entire development studio outside the offices standing together as the backdrop.
On a side note I have an idea I want to do but I simply don’t have the time maybe someone here can do it or knows someone with the time, talent and desire to do so. I was thinking it would be good sport and poetic justice for someone to do a machinima based newscast with the characters from ME responding to questions about the situation as well as the game in general. I think it would quickly become the hottest thing on-line like the RvB stuff was a few years ago. Anyway takers?
I just hope Fox won't pull some stupid Donahue-esque bait and switch (http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2002/08/20/jenkins_on_donahue/) on EA if they show up.
"Tonight on FOXNews: Victims of video game rape. EA is here to defend the godless, immoral, puppy killing heathens. Your thoughts, EA?"
Which one? The book spamming?
If they come they will give them thirty seconds to defend it and 5 minutes to the panel to bash it.
I was kind of surprise Townhall.com didn't draw Anon's attention after their pinhead posted what is by far the most outrageous lies about Mass Effect to date.
No one get get into the FOX studios to protest. But you can protest in front of the giant windows that the FOX news has looking out their studio. They have people out there every mourning on "Fox and friends".
Since Colbert is already a satirized version of fox news they can set it up like a regular fox news interview or those "expert" debates that they have. Hmm maybe something along the lines of Colbert Rebelling against Fox Prime Time TV for its graphic depictions of _______ from this show _____ then have an EA representative there playing the moral angle on how TV is degrading America and How video games are 2 be the new past time since video games do not depict _________ . Then have someone play the spokes person from Fox (or say they are from fox but from like CBS, ABC, NBC, or something like that) and cut them off and show that they did not do any research into the show.
This way EA gets there TV time and responds back to Fox News without it being on Fox News who will spin. It might not reach the broad audience that EA is hoping for but it will help in the cause.
They just need to find a way to tie in Mass Effect into the "debate" or some relation.
I like that idea. And Colbert and Stweart are both known to be gamers, so I bet they'd go for it.
I like that idea too.
I love the way you think.
Sorry, but it'll never work.
- This will give another (and better) argument for Fox to play victim
- This won't help EA's cause one bit.
- The topic obviously won't be actual facts (except if they try really hard)
- It will tarnish the video game image even more
- Viewers won't take it seriously if presented like that
- We need another Faux News as we need a diarrhea
Fighting libel with libel don't and will never work. It will only put up more tension between gamers and the other peoples. Isn't our goal to reduce this tension and educate?
i'm not too big on EA, but their really not evil at all compared to FOX, the place for evil.
"Isn’t our goal to reduce this tension and educate"
Well, I've never really seen games or politics be civil, especially politics, so I'd have to see the goal is to pwn teh noobs.
Sadly, you can't play nice against their game. There strategey is to say the slander in the form of a question, and repeat ad nauseum and implant the connection into the minds of viewers. Why shouldn't we do the same?
It's kind of like playing Medieval II Total war (one of my favorites of all time, btw). When fighting a faction, I try to start out civil and ransom back their prisoners. If it is a small number, I may even let them go. Until they execute one of mine. From then on, they will never have another prisoner survive a battle. You have to beat offense with superior offense. If they go dirty, you go dirtier.
If they go dirty, you go dirtier.
Yeah, see the Middle East for how well that works out. :p
Seriously, though, it doesn't help to fight BS with more BS. That just makes both sides look equally bad -- and, as Buffalo Springfield put it, "Nobody's right when everybody's wrong."
Instead, we ought to hit them with the truth; truth that both favors us and disfavors the opposition. We can argue not only that Fox News reported false information, but that they argued in court (during the Jane Akre case) that they had the right to. That's damning to them, and every bit of it's true.
That comparison to that Lipstick Jungle Ad was made of win.
Ahh but its in satire. So its fighting libel with satire.
so we are playing off the fact that Fox News is supposedly real news. Satire done correctly can make valid points and criticism about the topic at hand.
let them play victim, they are being attacked for faulty journalism by people who are doing fake news. Its like having an actor tell a nuclear engineer how to do his job.
It may not help out EA's cause directly. It may help in a bigger scheme, Fox news already watches the colbert report, and well they are providing the fuel by doing this. What are they going to do provide more fuel?
who cares about the Facts, Fox News doesnt, beside its satire, and fake news. Why should anyone believe its true when its FAKE news.
tarnish how? EA is playing a comical character of being the moral right, Like how Wayne Brady was feature on the Dave Chappelle show or Natalie Portman being portrayed as a gangsta rapper on SNL.
Well there are only something thats can be said with comedy. If done humorously people will laugh and there right.
The colbert report is satire, its not real news, its making fun of the news and so forth.
They dont need EA there to correct the errors that were made on the broadcast. They dont have any reason for a guest appearance other than to smear and attack them as well.
Regarding the article, it is quite possible that fox is telling the absolute, 100% truth. I mean, all they said was that, as of the moment they made that comment, they had sent multiple invites to EA. Whether those invites had been made more than a couple minutes before, or even sent to the right part of EA, they never specified.
Plus, even if they did contact the proper people and give EA some time to respond, I can easily see EA not wanting to send a guy for another segment, considering it might just be run the exact same way the first one was, with the EA guy in place of Geoff.
Unfortunately for us, they're not fatal exceptions, so Fox never shuts up and they keep going at it.
"Somebody had to take the babysitter home. Then I noticed she was sitting on --her sweet --can. --o I grab her -- sweet can. Oh, just thinking about her swee --can. I just wish I had he -- sweet --sweet s-s-sw--swe-sweet can."
Unless it's a live show.
Then my reference goes to hell.
How ironic, huh? But yeah that's right on the money, I'd say.
If it is live, it will be more like the episode 'Bart Mangled Banner', with the host opening with the question, "So, which part of America do you hate most?"
Except it will probably be, "Why do you think children should be allowed to watch pornography?"
Actually wasn't there an ep of The Boondocks where they went on Faux Noise? It was the alternate reality where MLK didn't die, he just slipped into a coma for 40 years one.
But I guess that would only give EA solid grounds on which to sue if they did, so it's a lose/lose situation for Fox. Yet I'll remain cautiously optimistic until I see the end of the next battle.