Stephen Totilo · @stephentotilo
5th Sep 2014 from TwitLonger
The freakout over Patreon is a red herring. Those carrying on about it in an effort to sniff out what they claim is journalistic corruption have lost or are in danger of losing perspective.
I've previously stated that I believe it is a potential conflict of interest for a Kotaku writer to fund a game developer through services such as Patreon, as wonderful a service as it is for creators. I believe this because I am skeptical of the real or perceived conflicts of a reporter committing to ongoing funding of an individual for non-coverage purposes. (Paying into a project in order for coverage purposes, however, is, I believe as valid an expense as buying a game.) This is a Kotaku best practice that I think suits us. This does not mean that I believe games reporters who provide open-ended funding to game developers are corrupt or deserve to be hounded. Why? Because I judge a reporter or critic by the body of their work and I use common sense to judge the spirit of their intent. It is wildly unfair to hound any reporter for as contentious an issue as whether funding a developer through Patreon is an ethical breach. It is, at worst, a gray area, one that some reporters will choose to avoid and that others won't. What next? Trying to ruin the career of writers whose Instagram reveals that they once accepted swag from a game publisher?
I am extremely frustrated that the ongoing saga--which has spun from scrutiny of indie developer Zoe Quinn to GamerGate to lord knows what next--has become mired in distrustful, paranoid witch-hunting that disregards a writer or developer's career at the sign of a perceived ethical breach. I am dismayed that an inordinate amount of targets in this ongoing saga are women who make games, women who write about games or people who write about women's issues vis a vis games. It is hard to shake the feeling that all that is being sought now is a "gotcha" to use as grounds to hound someone out of their career. It's disgraceful.
There are aspects of the GamerGate drama that I do empathize with. I think it's wonderful to see diverse gamers take pride in the "gamer" identity and to claim it as an identity of good, tolerant people. I think it's important to hear the voices of people who feel disenfranchised from the discussions about games in the mainstream press. I think it's crucial as a reporter to always be reminded of the skepticism of readers and the need to continuously earn trust. But I can't help but be repulsed by the tenor of so much of the current debate I see in my Twitter feed--the dismissal of talented people's work, the willfulness to believe the worst about anyone with whom you disagree, the disinterest in de-escalation.
If you've lost the ability to trust the current gaming press, I recommend you find reporters and sites you like and support them. If you cannot see the hard work and earnest efforts so many in the press are putting forth, that's a shame.
I believe in the goodness in most people and cannot see gamers, game reporters and game developers as anything but, by and large, people who are trying to do the best they can and be the best they can be. I hope that perspective is shared.