Kotaku
They may night out and out call him a tool, but it's there, right between the lines.
In a surprising bit of mainstream journalism, Winda Benedetti wrote a piece for MSNBC titled "Were video games to blame for massacre?" in which she essentially chides the media for being so willing to jump to conclusions and for so willingly listening to Jack Thompson.
The shooting on the Virginia Tech campus was only hours old, police hadn't even identified the gunman, and yet already the perpetrator had been fingered and was in the midst of being skewered in the media.Video games. They were to blame for the dozens dead and wounded. They were behind the bloodiest massacre in U.S. history.
Or so Jack Thompson told Fox News and, in the days that followed, would continue to tell anyone who'd listen.
This excellent lede was followed up with two pages that spells out a point Heather Chaplin made on our site earlier today: Video games are this generation's boogie man.
It also seems to faintly echo our own analysis of Thompson's bold-faced malarkey.
But on with the grade-A Thompson bashing.
When Jack Thompson gets worked up, he refers to gamers as "knuckleheads." He calls video games "mental masturbation."When he's talking about himself and his crusade against violent games, he calls himself an "educator." He likes to use the word "pioneer."
Certainly Thompson has made a name for himself. After all, he knows a thing or two about publicity. He's spent no small bit of time in front of a camera.
On those rare occasions when a student opens fire on a school campus, Thompson is frequently the first and the loudest to declare games responsible. In recent years he's blamed games such as "Counter-Strike," "Doom" and "Grand Theft Auto III" for school shootings in Littleton, Colo., Red Lake, Minn. and Paducah, Ky.
He's blamed them for shootings beyond school grounds as well. In an attempt to hold game developers and publishers responsible for these spasms of violence, Thompson has launched several unsuccessful lawsuits.
The story is a must read, something you should print out and enjoy over a beer while sitting in your favorite chair as you unwind for the day.
While I appreciate MSNBC finally seeing the light, it would have been nice if they had realized their mistake prior to putting Thompson in front of a live national audience in a time of fear and sadness to regurgitate his FUD.
Lets hope they and those like them have learned their lessons.
Comments
Just when you think the media has made up it's mind about you, they turn around and give you hope.
I would like to read the article, but I can't seem to find a link to it on this page.
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/04/20/old_encyclopedia_say....
Damn, twice MSNBC is talking with reason, what is going on?!
Nice. I'll read it later though. Right now, I'm killing people in GTA: San Andreas.
Fix the link!
Fixed, it will take a sec to hit the site.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18220228/
Interesting, they call out Fox News by name but never mention the other networks who actually aired JT and listened to his ramblings too.
I'm honestly glad he's doing this. He's going on a crusade against video games but he is totally unarmed. I've listened. I just wanted to hear what he had to say. I had read all the articles about him before-hand and never actually heard him spill out this bile... He's setting himself up in the worst way and I'll be happy when his ambulance chasing days are over.
MSNBC... "Fair and Balanc..." (Oh wait, that's taken)
MSNBC... "Notice the MS? You write a letter to Bill and we're gunna own you!"
MSNBC... "We're the only ones not just looking for a unique way to milk a tragedy"
MSNBC... "We hate Jack too"
@Scazza:
Perhaps it's the "MS" in "MSNBC" that is doing the talking. Not disagreeing with the message though.
hallelieuh...yuh?
That was a great read. I never really thought games were in danger, but it is nice to see that they truly are not.
Actually, MSNBC seems to be taking point on disassociating gaming with the Virginia Tech incident. My personal favorite piece so far was this op-ed:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18152668/from/ET/
a slight excerpt:
" Over the next few days, as we wonder about causes and mourn those who fell victim to gunfire at Virginia Tech University on Monday, we will hear many fervent, ill-advised calls for quick technological fixes meant to prevent another such incident.
We will hear "experts" on cable news shows blame video games for the rise in gun violence among young people - despite the fact that the rise in popularity of violent video games coincides with a remarkable drop in gun violence in all sectors of American society…
…People have been killing each other ever since there were people. Video games are not needed to spur the imagination of a person who intends to do others harm.
Regardless of how much we might fear the new and unfamiliar, we also often look to new technology as a quick-fix for the things we fear. We reflexively throw money towards technologies intended to save us from an immediate menace while ignoring dangers that truly threaten us.
…let's recognize that the deep, dark and complex workings of our minds and souls have more to do with such events than any particular technology does."
I've been keeping that close to heart over the course of the week. It's a pretty moving editorial, especially as a gamer.
http://eat-sleep-game.com/news
I really does seem like the tide is turning in the 'blame video games' arena. With this shooting, Jack was really the only one out there claiming that video games were to blame, and people have been skeptical of his claims with no evidence to back them up. I also sense that we've reached a tipping point where enough people are not confused or scared by video games, and that viewpoint is making it's way into the mainstream.
It's great that this editorial was put up, but it would have been MUCH better had this actually been an on air editorial, reaching the same audience He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named reached. As a written piece on the net it's going to reach more people that already know all this than the ignorant masses out there who can only be reached through television. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named gets that kind of coverage, why can't someone with a different viewpoint get the same access?
I think more accurately video games are this generation's punk rock music... or the Beatles... I remember kids and "Generation X" being chided in the media in years gone by for the devil music they listened to. That it unfluenced callous behaviour and what not. People will always find something to blame.
If Jack Thomspon is a smart man, than he knows this. The average person is a lemming, and will always look for someone to lead them in thought and action. People support Jack Thompson because they are looking for answers, and will be spoonfed anything that comes their way.
There are always black and white opinions to an issue... calling a person "tool" for being on the other side of an spectrum is just irresponsible, specially coming from journalists. The fact that JT uses those kind of words against people that entertain with videogames shouldn´t be used as an excuse to play the same game of name calling, that´s juvenile.
@Zeichrat:
No dude, you are mistaken, JT is in FACT a tool. Not name calling, not being mean, he simply IS the definition of a TOOL.
Tool: Definition: JT
Simple facts.
Thompson obviously has an axe to grind with the video game industry. Maybe he was beaten mercilessly (but probably deservedly) as a kid with an Atari 2600 controller and just never got over the trauma.
My question to the media: how about you focus on the fact that a man who was deteremined by a Virginia court to be mentally unstable was able to get not one, but two, semi-automatic pistols?
@Atheist Jew:
Jack went on Chris Matthews on MSNBC, and after a minute of his schtick Matthews started expression doubt. Jack continued insisting that video games were involved, at which point Matthews just opened up on him and delivered the a pretty good smack down. It think it was just as good as an on-air editorial. It was posted here (yesterday?), or I'm sure you could find it on youtube.
Is there a way to contact the author? I would like to send her a 'thank you' e-mail.
expression = expressing
HE-WHO-SHOULD-NOT-BE-NAMED is a tool.
Bill should sue JT. If he would id never say anything bad about Bill again. I might even buy vista.
Since teen violence has been on the decline since the popularity of computer games (and violent computer games) it can be argued that violent games reduces real-life violence. I think we should be looking into the benefits of violent games rather than the alleged negatives.
The hypothesis can go something like this: Human beings are violent by nature. Violent games acts as a release mechnism and reduces the occurance of real-life violent acts.
So when someone goes out and does rage killing, and JT tries to link it to (violent) video games, we can say it's the person is too deranged for even games to save.
It would be ironic, wouldn't it?
Man can't you just be more like SPOnG?
From the current newsletter:
The Week That Jack Thompson Got It So Wrong
This week saw an American college tragedy used as fodder for a crusade against video games. Here's why SPOnG didn't give that debate any more publicity.
The SPOnG newsroom was awash this week with more debate regarding pricing for Sony's PlayStation 3, and I was expecting this to be the main subject for the SPOnG newsletter.
But this changed on Wednesday night (GMT) when once again, US attorney Jack Thompson used the sadness of scores of families to push an agenda.We debated whether to run news stories regarding the two TV appearances, and the radio interview in which Thompson blamed Counterstrike for the murderous behaviour of Cho Seung-hui at Virginia Tech. We even debated running a copy of the email sent to us - and many other news sources - by Thompson regarding his erroneous claims made before there was any solid information relating to the killer's motives or stimulus.
To be frank, such stories would have got us traffic.
The decision reached, however, [b]was not to provide any more publicity to the man, his cause, and - as importantly - his insensitive use of the media[/b] at a time when the families and friends of the victims were still coming to terms with their loss. I think we made the right decision not to provide yet another outlet for the baseless accusations. I hope you agree.
Cheers
Tim Smith
JT, like anyone else, is entitled to his opinion...however, his inane opinions prove only one thing - he needs help...here's a thought - let's all send him "get well soon" cards...the deluge of sarcasm will help drive home the point...(i saw this tactic used in a film once - was funny, could be effective...just imagine - him getting hundreds of get well soon cards in the post everyday :P )
@Stile:
Vista is an evil equal to he who must not be named... I'd buy 10 360s and 100 copies of GTAIV and bebe's kids for the NES before I bought vista. *Shiver* Games for windows is going to be causing people to do shooting sprees... No, not for "training" them to do them, but for forcing them to upgrade to vista in order to play games that would have worked just as well on XP... They'll end up shooting up the MS offices. "Take that Bill, forcing me to upgrade to this crappy OS!!" Ok, I'm done...
Um... Even if it is MS, I'm glad they're helping us show Jackie boy for what he really is.
Hey im all for not giving JT more time but if we dont know what waste he spews then no one can counter it. If we let him run rampant without monitoring him then some people might start to actually believe what he says.
Jack Thompson is swiftly becoming the laughingstock of the news industry. The thing is, he has no evidence, has never had any, and as time goes on shows no promise of ever being able to make a convincing or conclusive case. He gets air time because networks are frequently starved for talking heads, but they don't respect him or his viewpoints any more.
@bobtheduck:
I said might buy vista. No promises.
Ignoring Thompson doesn't make him go away. Thinking that he would is dangerous.
This could well make him finally wake up, who knows? :D
Now he's not just being mocked by the internet, he's being mocked by the mainstream media. Maybe he'll realise it's time to call it quits.
I like watching Olbermann on MSNBC...I just wish it wasn't an hour, I end up taping it to skip all the commercials.
But I'm glad people are taking Thompson to task. How does this person get money, anyway?
I dont think he'll call it quits till someone makes him and bars him from any future comments.
Hey dont be too hard on Jack Thompson Ive read somewhere on the net the reason why he hates so much the videogames is because he has been molested by a videogame console when he was young. You can see it in his face.
@Veltis: http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comics/20050808.jpg
@Veltis:
Ive seen that comic. I just cant remember where :(
Thought: this generation's gamers finally reached the age of this generation's media and is replacing the media of last generation.
OK so it took me a while, but that's pretty cool!
Yay! It's nice to see that the rest of the world is starting to recognize that Jack Thompson in fact has no idea what he's talking about.
This particular crisis is especially enlightening because of how long it took for any information about the shooter to come out, and how completely not to blame video games are here. Yet, JT still made an ass out of himself right out of the starting gate, and now it's finally enough for even uninformed people to realize that he's full of shit.
So Brian, I take it Jack and yourself are no longer on speaking terms?
I love it when he says that people learn to fire guns playing games like GTA. I wish I could find me a gun that has an auto-aim button.
But you know I did wreck my car a few years back and if violent games make people kill people then maybe racing games cause you to have wrecks so maybe I should hire Jack to sued EA and Polyphony Digital for making Need For Speed Underground, Burnout, and Gran Turismo.
One of the funny things is that JT likes to name Postal and Postal 2 every now and then as some of the games that causes people to do this stuff. He says it is life imitating art but since Postal was somewhat inspired by the shooting rampages of postal workers (who probably weren't gamers) in the late 80's and early 90's it is really art imitating life.
Also one thing nobody else seems to ever bring up in these situations is that stuff like this has been happening for much longer than video games have been around. Anybody else ever hear of Charles Whitman? My point being that nutjobs act like nutjobs with or without the influence of video games.
Now can we please get an official media blackout on all things JT related?
after Hardball with Chris Matthews exposing the scumbag JT really is, and now this article, there's only one sane conclusion
MSNBC = my new favorite network
@gshock888:
Ive seen Chris go after people a lot harder than he did Jack. We should give Chris some more information and let him really have at him.
MSNBC just find out Jack is an Ass,wow these people are slow.
Really i dont give a crap about jack or this issue at all.
@0ldb0y: Actually, Microsoft and NBC recently parted ways over MSNBC. It's now wholly owned by NBC (I think.)
So, how long do we get to keep this bout of cultural common sense?
Good lord, what has happened? The Media is making sense, and not jumping to conclusions? I think the world is coming to an end.
Seriously, like fire and brimstone coming down from the sky.
Rivers and seas boiling, 40 years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes, the dead rising from their graves!
Human sacrifice!
Dogs and cats, living together!
Mass hysteria.
That was my movie quote of the day - thank you, and good night.
BOOM SHAKALAKA!! Little things like this brightens my day.
Where is Kelso around when you need him?
'BURRRRRRRRNNNNNN!!!!'
from page 2:
"One thing that people often don't realize is that in the years since video game sales have really exploded, not only have youth violence rates decreased but violence rates in the U.S. have declined precipitously,"