On January 17 2013 05:38 Disposition1989 wrote: Well! I want to find out that Snute is now on teamliquid by...seeing it on teamliquid. I want to see a nice write up, a video, comments from old/new team members. All official, typed up with a bow on top. I don't want to see a twitter post on /r/stacraft with Slasher and his mysterious "sources" claiming that Snute is now on TL. I cannot say whether I'm alone sharing this opinion or not but that's what I want!
How is what you want mutually exclusive to what Slasher provides? The team-sites will always put that out, whether they've been scooped or not.
The OP is wonderfully written and articulates the issues at hand correctly. Journalists are not firms PR-men nor should they be. Well done Slasher, keep up your good work.
On January 17 2013 05:38 Disposition1989 wrote: Well! I want to find out that Snute is now on teamliquid by...seeing it on teamliquid. I want to see a nice write up, a video, comments from old/new team members. All official, typed up with a bow on top. I don't want to see a twitter post on /r/stacraft with Slasher and his mysterious "sources" claiming that Snute is now on TL. I cannot say whether I'm alone sharing this opinion or not but that's what I want!
TL planned to announce snute around now, but since slasher leaked it they had to rush their own announcment out. they had a lot of stuff planned but could use barely any of it since they had to announce it over a week before they planned to.
sure the announcment they put out was amazing, but it could have been so much better : (. but slasher robbed us of that enjoyment.
On January 17 2013 05:18 EG.lectR wrote: "Ultimately, EG's issue with Breslau's reporting is their fault. If they want information used the way they want it to be used, they need to withhold that information as they see fit, which is certainly their right."
This assumes that information is always between one party or parties which are under the same level of control. That is not the case within e-sports and there is no body which monitors that information or those conversations. Teams talk freely, players talk freely, and there are too many people involved in normal transactions [in this case, team transactions] to claim that one party can control it all and you cannot, as one entity, change that at this time.
so instead you try and control the journalists, because thats the quick and easy fix at the moment....
That's a strange response. Can you respond to what I've said? Do you have a suggestion or can clarify a process? Because if you can't and if you understand what I've typed, then you see the dilemma and how inapplicable a traditional model is to e-sports right now.
Well your post is talking about how difficult it is to keep information from leaking because so many people know about it, people from other teams, other players and such. Stuff that isn't under your (EG's) control. And with no "NFL" to regulate the talking, as teams can't actually freely talk about player movement without punishment from the league, its very hard to prevent things from leaking.
So instead, we get Alex saying, If you continue to publish this info, teams are going to cut you off. Right there is trying to control the journalists.
My suggestion? Limit the people in the know on your end as best as possible. Control the information as best as possible. Make sure both parties involved in the negotiation know to keep their mouths shut. People in esports are so loose lipped. Just from paying attention to twitter, you can learn quite a lot. Its actually hilarious. And if teams can come together to blackball Slasher, than they can come together to control their info better too.
Far more people know of signings and such in traditional sports due to all the paper work that must be filed that does not exist in esports (ie. league papers). And yet signings do happen without people knowing from time to time. Deron Williams resigning with the Nets comes to mind.
I dont think any team should be telling Slasher how to do his job quite frankly. Do what you do. Slasher does what he does. Learn to coexist, the rest of the world has.
On January 17 2013 05:31 Kishin2 wrote: Alex is seeing things from a business perspective. Rod is seeing things from a journalistic point of view. However, both Alex and Rod, I would expect, have a common interest of expanding the e-sports scene. Alex does this by generating revenue from areas outside e-sports. Rod does this by obtaining publicity on the scene. Because slasher published information preemptively, Alex generates less revenue for himself and thus, e-sports. The real issue I see isn't the decision to report on news, but the presumed interest of both parties to grow e-sports and one party opting for a decision that seemingly goes against that common interest. Is slasher's journalistic integrity greater than his interest in growing the e-sports scene in this case?
If esports can't survive because its business model revolves around secrecy then it has one of two choices. A) get everyone to keep quiet and don't leak anything ever, or B) close up shop and move on.
I agree with this. If esports can't survive slasher breaking news first and it's hurting them so much, then esports doesn't deserve to survive because that's a faulty business model to begin with.
This is why foreigners keep losing in everything. The teams are a marketing agency first and a competition team second. Alex loves to shout to the rooftops that no sponsor has ever come to him complaining about poor results. They only care about how much exposure you give them.
There's a fundamental problem with esports when results aren't valued more because sports are all about results. Esports should not be reduced to how many eyeballs see an ad or website over actual player results. Sadly, that's how it is in the west and if esports someday dies because of that model, then they deserve it because they acted in direct contrast to what it means to be a sport in the first place.
I agree with both Alex Garfield and Nazguls fury about their recent signings being leaked, but to blame Slasher is just absurd. They need to look into their own organizations, or try to come to an agreement with other teams whilst fighting over "hot signings". That having hype-videos and "trends" when a big new signing happens is of course important for these teams, and if they all wish to keep their sponsors happy and further eSports they should not leak such info just to hurt other organizations.
All credz to Slasher for sticking to his guns, and eagerly awaiting Alex Garfields response in the coming days!
How can Slasher be commended for finding sources when it most likely took no effort. He has been in esports for a while and seemed to be "friends" with a lotta players so if anything I would say he betrayed his friends. He also wouldn't deny any accusations that Alex Garfield threw at him, such as having multiple discussions pertaining to this topic of not leaking announcements, so I'm not going to hate on Slasher, but I definitely don't commend him for what he's done.
On January 17 2013 02:24 Crashburn wrote:He should not care about the progression or regression of e-sports, even.
I don't agree with this. I don't know Slasher too much, but I'm assuming he's an e-sports journalist. If e-sports goes down the tubes, he needs to find another job just like if baseball were to somehow disappear tomorrow, you'd be out of a job too. If e-sports grows, then he grows.
And now you're falling into this trap of many about the pipe dream of esports. Sorry, but esports is just another industry in the REAL WORLD. And in the real world, businesses succeed or they fail, and many of them fail. You don't really care that Slasher would be out of the job because if the scene does fall, Rob would just apply for another journalism position in a different field. Or not, because Gamespot at least covers a wide range of gaming. He could cover gaming conventions like PAX or E3.
Anyone attempting to blame Slasher in this situation to get a grip on how reporting works. Bill makes a great point here, even though ESPORTS is a bit of an "old boys club" (which IMO is the source of a LOT of the drama and problems in the industry), freedom of the press and free speech trump all. You can create legal documents all you want, but trying to keep something secret in this day and age is nearly impossible. The second that someone not covered by a legal agreement gets wind of a secret, it will spread like wildfire. As soon as that secret gets to a reporter they will report it because these are things people care about and want to read. Sponsors, pageviews and EG, TL or ESPORTS be damned, a journalist has a responsibility to post about things like this and anything else newsworthy. It's their job.
Good job Slasher for reporting news. Don't stop even if they blacklist you.
For the record I have no problem with a team saying hey if you stay quiet on this, you get an exclusive interview. And I have no problem with Slasher accepting or declining that option. That's a judgement call up to him. Teams have the right to be upset with him if he declines, but they should really get over it.
Would you not say that the pro sports and SC2 scenes are different enough that Alex's opinion could be right? If a pro team gets their trade announced they don't care. They don't rely on that income. SC2 teams do and so when their news gets leaked and it is done in a non-hyping way, they lose money which is a fair chunk of what they make.
Would you not think that in this different industry it might not be better for people like Slasher to work a bit more in tandem with the teams? I am not saying he sacrifices his journalistic integrity but that in some circumstances he should consider what they want and get exclusive interviews after they announce it or something instead.
There is a good chance that taking that path could in fact end up as a better business model for Slasher himself than to just break the news before the teams.
It is a well written blog but this to me just seems like Slasher needed someone to fight his fight for him so he reached out to his "contacts". Why else would an ESPN sportswriter "weigh-in" on the subject? Slasher was destroyed on ITG last night, dodged every question, and couldn't admit that what he did and if it was right/wrong(not arguing either way).
I'm not disagreeing with this blog. It just seems sad to me that he doesn't have the spine to stand up on his own.
On January 17 2013 06:11 BRaegO wrote: It is a well written blog but this to me just seems like Slasher needed someone to fight his fight for him so he reached out to his "contacts". Why else would an ESPN sportswriter "weigh-in" on the subject? Slasher was destroyed on ITG last night, dodged every question, and couldn't admit that what he did and if it was right/wrong(not arguing either way).
I'm not disagreeing with this blog. It just seems sad to me that he doesn't have the spine to stand up on his own.
Going on ITG is the equivalent of going on Fox News as a liberal. You are going to get destroyed if you have an opposing viewpoint. When 4/5 people on that show work for EG, there is no other possible outcome. Either Slasher comes off as an asshole for standing up for himself and getting destroyed or he comes off as a totally dodgy sleazeball by not answering questions and still getting destroyed. The outcome was bound to be the same, the only difference is how Slasher gets portrayed.
You can't compare Cliff Lee to an SC2 player because baseball fans like baseball a lot more tab SC fans like SC.
Frankly people care less about what team someone is on and more about the drama involved in getting them there. IE this whole pile of EG shit. Sad to see, probably. Big part of why I don't watch Starcraft much anymore.
On January 17 2013 06:02 Rayeth wrote: Bill makes a great point here, even though ESPORTS is a bit of an "old boys club" (which IMO is the source of a LOT of the drama and problems in the industry),
I would argue it's actually a "young boys club" and that's half the problem and the cause of the drama. They may be progamers but they're not managed like most pro athletes are. This entire kerfuffle is evidence to that.
The journalistic standards for big sports and esports should not be the same (for the time being.) Slasher is trying to be a "I am a protector of truth and justice" journalist when in actuality he isn't putting in any of the effort required for that, he is merely claiming to stand by his journalistic code in order to be able to shirk any sense of responsibility for doing things like leaking news before the teams release it.
Leaking the Jaedong/Stephano information beforehand I can see having minimal repercussions, but leaking the Snute example no doubt hurt that announcement/player. I don't buy Slasher's argument that he is anything other than a parasite at this point. To the people who say that he is doing his job, if my job was to screw people over, would it not still be screwing people over? And by that logic, where is all of the hate for Alex Garfield coming from? I appreciate Slasher's work otherwise, and I understand that that is what journalism calls for, but I don't think that journalism of this kind is helpful at all right now. Slasher's job only exists because esports exists, and as of now he is just undermining the people he should be helping out. I understand journalism is different from being a publicist, but what "real" journalism is he actually doing at the moment? It seems as though he is aiming for quantity over quality, and maybe that's his job, but that makes him a tabloid/paparazi style journalist...
This has nothing to do with 'freedom of the press' at all, and anyone confusing this is either intellectually lazy or dishonest.
No one is addressing Slasher's legal right to publish this content, they are evaluating its cost versus its benefit. Teams can, and it sounds like, will, refuse to talk to Slasher if they decide the cost is not worth the benefit.
Is this the road we want to go down?
IT is common in the larger world for a journalist to get on the bad side of an organization and that organization to refuse any new content to that reporter/media outlet. This is not a violation of 'freedom of the press.' There is no legal mandate to communicate with Slasher. The teams have, in large part, cooperated with Slasher, even when they got little out of the arrangement.
The more relevant topic seems to be, "What type of journalism is the esports community (teams, fans, leagues) willing to support?"
Although I think Alex Garfield is wrong about the core of the argument at hand, this doesn't mean Slasher is doing a good job all of a sudden.
All he really does is break easy-to-access news a couple of days before it would otherwise be announced officially. I would like to see some digging. Expose all those dodgy teams/houses in Europe e.g. Ministry of Win, Eclypsia. Find out why Steelseries no longer sponsors EG etc. In other words, provide the hidden information that would otherwise not be available to the community. Heck, he may even do some good by pushing some of the dodgy people out of the industry.
Edit: Oh, and get on the case of those tournaments that don't pay out their prizemoney quickly/at all.
On January 17 2013 06:11 BRaegO wrote: It is a well written blog but this to me just seems like Slasher needed someone to fight his fight for him so he reached out to his "contacts". Why else would an ESPN sportswriter "weigh-in" on the subject? Slasher was destroyed on ITG last night, dodged every question, and couldn't admit that what he did and if it was right/wrong(not arguing either way).
I'm not disagreeing with this blog. It just seems sad to me that he doesn't have the spine to stand up on his own.
While you have a point, there was more to it than just Slasher not being able to defend himself. The situation where he was, all EG, Alex talking constantly over him, his godawful microphone that couldn't handle anything, even if Slasher could've defended himself.
On January 17 2013 05:18 EG.lectR wrote: "Ultimately, EG's issue with Breslau's reporting is their fault. If they want information used the way they want it to be used, they need to withhold that information as they see fit, which is certainly their right."
This assumes that information is always between one party or parties which are under the same level of control. That is not the case within e-sports and there is no body which monitors that information or those conversations. Teams talk freely, players talk freely, and there are too many people involved in normal transactions [in this case, team transactions] to claim that one party can control it all and you cannot, as one entity, change that at this time.
Which is how it works in the real world in professional sports across the board. GMs talk to other GMs, agents talk to other agents, players talk to other players, and of course people within the organizations that are way bigger than eSports organizations also talk.
EPT
