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Journalism is among the top ten careers that attract psychopaths, according to the book The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success. Per Wikipedia, psychopathy is "a personality disorder that has been variously characterized by shallow emotions (including reduced fear, a lack of empathy, and stress tolerance), coldheartedness, egocentricity, superficial charm, manipulativeness, irresponsibility, impulsivity, criminality, antisocial behavior, a lack of remorse, and a parasitic lifestyle".
And that's a good thing. Journalism is less about writing and more about the journalist's ability to get access to information that other people cannot, which in a lot of ways, requires some of the characteristics of psychopathy. Anybody can take pieces of information and turn it into an easily-consumed article; few know where and how to find that information, for it requires an amalgamation of intelligence, charisma, and fearlessness, among other traits.
I bring this up because journalism has been a hot topic of discussion within the e-sports community lately, particularly involving GameSpot's Rod "Slasher" Breslau and team Evil Geniuses. (No, I'm not accusing Breslau of being a psychopath. Although...) Breslau has broken many a story, usually involving a player moving from one team to another. No one would say that Breslau has done his job unprofessionally or provided low-quality work.
On Inside the Game recently, Alex Garfield, the CEO of Evil Geniuses, took issue with Breslau's breaking of various news items because, to paraphrase his argument, it takes away from the team's ability to capitalize on the surprise and excitement, which hurts the team, which then hurts e-sports as a whole. Garfield's team employs artists full-time to create web pages and videos to draw in eyeballs, which then are applied to the logos of their sponsors, in what amounts to a cyclical ecosystem.
Alfred Harmsworth, a British press magnate in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, once said, "News is something someone wants suppressed. Everything else is just advertising."
When you watch the debate between Garfield and Breslau, you must keep in mind Garfield's bias. Of course the CEO of a team wants to keep as much information secret to maximize his profits -- that's his job! Garfield cannot expect Breslau to operate with the same motivations, however. A journalist should not, cannot, be subject to the whim's of a company's bottom line. As someone who actively labels himself a journalist, Breslau should have zero interest in the maximization of EG's page views, or advertising revenue. He should not care about hype or, to use their term, "anti-hype". He should not care about the progression or regression of e-sports, even.
As someone who has been participating in sports media for going on five years (not as a traditional journalist, mind you), it is funny to see this become an issue after having witnessed everything that passes as standard around the baseball industry. There is a website solely dedicated to posting rumors about teams and players (MLBTradeRumors.com), and it's very well-respected within the industry. The writers are given press access, players and members of team front offices visit the site daily, and there is no tension between the two sides. Aside from MLBTR, ESPN, FOX Sports, CBS Sports, and a host of other media outlets employ journalists to break news in exactly the way Breslau has done within e-sports.
Breslau leaking "Snute to Team Liquid" is no different than your typical baseball media report. Perhaps the best baseball example involves starting pitcher Cliff Lee. The Philadelphia Phillies acquired him via trade with the Cleveland Indians on July 29, 2009. On December 16, the Phillies traded him to the Seattle Mariners, and the Mariners then traded him to the Texas Rangers on July 9, 2010. Lee became a free agent after the season ended in October.
Because of Lee's stature as one of the elite starting pitchers, few teams were realistically expected to compete for his services as a free agent due to his ability to demand a high salary. Going into December 2010, the only two teams seriously linked to Lee were the Rangers, the team Lee helped lead into the World Series, and the rich New York Yankees. The Phillies were not in the equation at all.
However, in the days leading up to December 15, baseball journalist Jon Heyman reported that a "mystery team" was in on Lee -- a team other than the Rangers and Yankees. That mystery team turned out to be the Phillies, led by general manager Ruben Amaro. This article from Philadelphia Magazine details how stealthily the Phillies were working to get Lee:
Amaro had assembled the smallest possible circle of advisors for pursuing Lee. Gillick, Proefrock and Phillies president David Montgomery. That was it. No one else, not even manager Charlie Manuel, could know what was brewing.
And yet, when the Phillies finally signed Lee on the 15th, it wasn't the Phillies who broke the news; it was journalist Jon Heyman, then with Sports Illustrated. Heyman's reporting did nothing to reduce the hype around the signing; Amaro did not complain that the surprise would reduce eyeballs on the Phillies web site. In fact, it was never an issue.
In traditional sports, teams and journalists work together, dispassionately. Teams know it is in their best interest to allow them access, even if they may report things they would otherwise want kept secret. That's not to say there are no issues, but there's a reason why there is a strong correlation between a country's freedom of the press, and the overall health of that country (by many measures). It's the same within industries, even as small as e-sports. The more access the press has, the better the industry is overall.
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. Breslau's effort to find that information and his ability to find and cultivate sources of that information is to be commended, not criticized and ridiculed.
About the author: Bill Baer is a sportswriter for ESPN ( link | link) and an author (link). You can follow him on Twitter, @CrashburnAlley.
 
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United States22883 Posts
I think part of the problem with this is that while you're comparing actions, you're not comparing contexts. The dynamic between journalist and company should always be a struggle of sorts, but this is a nascent industry and my guess is right now the power is tipped much more in favor of company/team than reporter. Real sports reporters, or at least their media companies, have a lot more power in the exchange than Slasher does.
I see it more like baseball (or really any sport) was 50 years ago. Wasn't Bear Bryant able to keep the wishbone a secret from April until September simply because of the power he had over reporters? Maybe the current situation isn't that skewed, but I think it's closer to that than it is to being even. While the internet is "open," the culture of those involved with ESPORTS is very much a backdoor thing with lots of whispering and rumors being leaked, and the vast majority of fans don't have access to that stuff.
I don't think there's really a right answer as they are conflicting parties. For Slasher, he gained some integrity by standing his ground, but he also lost a lot of opportunities by not using it in exchange for something more important and maintaining the connection. For Alex, his biggest mistake was just announcing it publicly. If you quietly blacklist Slasher, then most people would just assume Slasher is bad at getting content. "No comment" would've saved them this mess.
Eventually the system will modernize and teams like EG will have to learn how to control a message without the media knowing it, but for the time being I think EG would've been fine with outright blacklisting as long as they hadn't been public about it. Whether this remains true after the incident is up for question.
EDIT: And by saying it's nascent, I don't mean to let them off the hook by saying "it's because no one knows better yet." I mean because it's so new, people care(d) drastically more about the teams than they did about the journalism so the power was skewed.
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I don't even understand why people are discussing it. It's hilarious how big headed Alex Garfield is. Slasher shouldn't have even been on that show, he didn't do anything wrong. Alex Garfield needs to learn not to be an idiot.
User was temp banned for this post.
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Thx Bill for your thoughts on the matter and you do get it.
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. Breslau's effort to find that information and his ability to find and cultivate sources of that information is to be commended, not criticized and ridiculed.
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Brazil1429 Posts
On January 17 2013 03:03 Jibba wrote:
I think part of the problem with this is that while you're comparing actions, you're not comparing contexts. The dynamic between journalist and company should always be a struggle of sorts, but this is a nascent industry and my guess is right now the power is tipped much more in favor of company/team than reporter. Real sports reporters, or at least their media companies, have a lot more power in the exchange than Slasher does.
I disagree with you here. A difference of industries don't imply in a difference of journalism. Journalism should abide by the same principles no matter the context. Journalism is way bigger and more important than esports, it's the CEOs and teams that need to adapt, hire publicists and get their shit together, not the opposite.
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There is a direct parallel here, as is pointed out, it's not two seperate worlds as Garfield would love to have people believe.
In, let's say, Football (NOTE: SOCCER), sure a team wouldn't care about reduced "hype" and traffic on their own sites for their own signing but if a journalist reports that X team is looking to sign Y player, or Z player's contract runs out soon and they haven't agreed new terms yet then that is something teams DO want to avoid.
If it's public knowledge Y player is available then maybe a bigger club than club X are going to come in and make a bid meaning club X don't get their player, or maybe the team owning player Z have to sell him just to stop him walking away for free or give him an even better contract than they would like.
The point is these things get made public via leaks, and while they don't "damage" a team as they don't get to make as much money through page views they do damage a team by making them potentially pay more money to get/keep hold of a player or meaning that a player doesn't join their team and instead joins another. So, in the end, both eSports teams and sports teams can be "hurt" by leaks and yet they still happen all the fucking time, will continue to happen and the only reason they happen is because people inside the organisation or part of the deal leak it, which, I might add includes the player.
"Oh it didn't come from the team it came from the player, he said to another team's manager 'Oh, I'm sorry but I'm joining (example) EG' " isn't a valid argument as then it's the player who has leaked that info, YOUR player. He can quite easily say "Sorry, I'm joining another team" but if they decide to tell other team managers which one that is then it's THEIR fault.
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OWN-ED!
User was warned for this post
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On January 17 2013 03:45 ROOTCatZ wrote:
OWN-ED!
hahaha
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Thanks for the professional opinion, Bill. I pretty much had the same thing in my head but couldn't be bothered to participate in the drama on the forums. Your piece sums it all up.
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I think it showed EG's true colors last night and how they want to control everything
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You cannot compare the two. While I agree with the sentiment of keeping journalism pure and its his Job. Comparing MLB and little old Esports is like comparing the titanic to my toy boat. Sure they both float (well kinda) and they both are boats, but a small wave will wreck my toy boat and the titanic will be fine.
Alex's point, as I saw it, was that teams can't rely on ticket sales and broadcast revenue to make money. They rely on page views, and sponsors who get those page views. The biggest page view bursts come from surprise announcements and pages like the announcement page for Jaedong. Having that ruined because Slasher found a name on a roster for IPTL or something of the such is not the fault of the team. While I agree teams should focus on keeping it a secrete sometimes it slips. And in major sports where millions of people care and millions of dollars swap hands. A leak and 100k less page views isn't that big of deal. To a small team like Karont3, or even to any team at all Its a HUGE deal.
Now What Alex wanted was instead of the "lazy" Journalism that Slasher has been providing. Which lets be honest his announcement articles are just titles and than 3 sentences repeating the title. He want's and has offered a special insiders view for Slasher. An interview with the player that just got signed and teammates to get reactions. Something, that as an ESPN journalist you should know is the bread and butter of sports journalism.
I am by no means defending EG or anything of the sort. It just has to be seen that this is not main stream sports, and any comparison is laughable. Slasher needs to see that what he does is greatly hurting teams and fans. Because maybe with out a spoiler Karont3 or TL gets 100k more page views and their sponsors decide to invest more money and than more players are signed. Instead Slasher posts a 5 sentence article and its all for nothing.
About the Author : Shaffty is a 20 year old College student studying Journalism and is a fan of SI.com
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"A journalist should not, cannot, be subject to the whim's of a company's bottom line. As someone who actively labels himself a journalist, Breslau should have zero interest in the maximization of EG's page views, or advertising revenue. He should not care about hype or, to use their term, "anti-hype". He should not care about the progression or regression of e-sports, even."
Finally someone who agrees with me
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Former NHL/college sports journalist here, now working in PR (look at that switch), so I know about both worlds. Frankly, I commend the reporting Slasher has done on recent stories.
Nobody is breaking news like he is and this is exactly the type of journalism fans of eSports should want. Teams will always want to control their message, and that's OK in theory, but it's up to enterprising reporters to keep the best stories in sports from breaking as an advertising campaign.
When the Washington Capitals signed Alexander Ovechkin to a 13 year mega-deal, it wasn't the Capitals who broke the story first. The Washington Post and other outlets had it first, but the Capitals confirmed it. Did it kill the excitement it created for hockey fans, particularly those in Washington? Absolutely not.
It benefited the Caps as fans were tuned into the contract negotiations and constantly visited the Capitals website, and other outlets, to get as much information as possible. It didn't kill jersey sales or ticket sales. It just sent the hype through the roof even more.
One way of letting eSports grow is the expanding way we cover eSports. It shouldn't just be the teams breaking big stories about tournaments, players and events that sites go and re-blog because the team finally released the information. Journalists should be out there seeking the stories, angles and writing enterprise pieces that bring the scene to life.
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United Kingdom2950 Posts
Great post Bill, thanks for taking the time to lay your thoughts out. As a budding journalist/reporter I'm always extremely interested in journalism discussion and I've tried to stay up to date in any video game related ones, such as the big issue that arose around video game journalists last year, and of course this recent kerfuffle. I'll say that I am quite torn on where I fall on this issue, on one hand I can understand how some may see eSports as a small industry and one that cannot withstand the rigors of 'hard-hitting' journalism and might benefit from a bit of handholding between parties. But on the other hand, there is definitely a line that you can't cross as a journalist or a reporter and one could see a kind of downward spiral of sorts, where journalists are simply being used as tools while under the guise of being a reporter for the people.
I really don't know though, so I will try to avoid making any controversial statements since I am still debating this internally. Thanks again for writing your thoughts down, though.
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Canada5565 Posts
Fundamentally, I agree with Bill. However, I think it is also important to recognize that accessing and releasing information is a rudimentary element of journalism; due to the youth and consumer habits within the esports industry, journalism is systemically limited to this level.
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On January 17 2013 02:24 Crashburn 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. Breslau's effort to find that information and his ability to find and cultivate sources of that information is to be commended, not criticized and ridiculed.
THIS
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for real though, to hell with alex garfield. alex garfield has NO credibility in esports. EG is not even a pro-gaming team as much as an advertising agency and alex has admitted as much. whats good for EG is not always whats good for esports.
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On January 17 2013 03:03 Jibba wrote:
I think part of the problem with this is that while you're comparing actions, you're not comparing contexts. The dynamic between journalist and company should always be a struggle of sorts, but this is a nascent industry and my guess is right now the power is tipped much more in favor of company/team than reporter. Real sports reporters, or at least their media companies, have a lot more power in the exchange than Slasher does.
I see it more like baseball (or really any sport) was 50 years ago. Wasn't Bear Bryant able to keep the wishbone a secret from April until September simply because of the power he had over reporters? Maybe the current situation isn't that skewed, but I think it's closer to that than it is to being even. While the internet is "open," the culture of those involved with ESPORTS is very much a backdoor thing with lots of whispering and rumors being leaked, and the vast majority of fans don't have access to that stuff.
I don't think there's really a right answer as they are conflicting parties. For Slasher, he gained some integrity by standing his ground, but he also lost a lot of opportunities by not using it in exchange for something more important and maintaining the connection. For Alex, his biggest mistake was just announcing it publicly. If you quietly blacklist Slasher, then most people would just assume Slasher is bad at getting content. "No comment" would've saved them this mess.
Eventually the system will modernize and teams like EG will have to learn how to control a message without the media knowing it, but for the time being I think EG would've been fine with outright blacklisting as long as they hadn't been public about it. Whether this remains true after the incident is up for question.
EDIT: And by saying it's nascent, I don't mean to let them off the hook by saying "it's because no one knows better yet." I mean because it's so new, people care(d) drastically more about the teams than they did about the journalism so the power was skewed.
Completely agree with this assessment. At the end of the day, Slasher did nothing wrong journalistically, but I don't think that was ever in dispute. What he did do was jeopardize his information stream within e-sports, and for what? So he could spread the news of a team transfer a few days prior to its official announcement. Who really cares about knowing that two days in advance? Are we that shallow as a community that it actually matters? And though I agree with Baer that journalism isn't all about writing prowess, worthwhile communication and reportage should have some bearing. Slasher's posts read like press releases, he just happens to do it under the moniker of Gamespot and as a journalist (let's not get into the journalistic issues of the gaming industry, suffice to say Slasher is just building on what everyone else has done). He got some page views for Gamespot, he gets paid, and ultimately he's ready to be the fiddle for a more cohesive information
strategy, a la TB. That's not the journalism this scene needs.
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On January 17 2013 03:48 Shaffty wrote:
Alex's point, as I saw it, was that teams can't rely on ticket sales and broadcast revenue to make money. They rely on page views, and sponsors who get those page views. The biggest page view bursts come from surprise announcements and pages like the announcement page for Jaedong. Having that ruined because Slasher found a name on a roster for IPTL or something of the such is not the fault of the team. While I agree teams should focus on keeping it a secrete sometimes it slips. And in major sports where millions of people care and millions of dollars swap hands. A leak and 100k less page views isn't that big of deal. To a small team like Karont3, or even to any team at all Its a HUGE deal.
Then they shouldn't be basing their revenue stream on shocking people with big news in a small field where everyone knows everything that's happening.
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Love this pithy piece.
What struck me about what Alex Garfield was saying the responsibility of journalists in esports to essentially be 3rd party free PR agents for the teams. Can't remember the last time I read a foreigner interview (love the translated PL stuff). What can teams really offer to journalists in exchange for not reporting on topical, very interesting news?
I think the public appeal was trying to draw energy from the old refrain of ESPORTS. Remember the time when people were fanatically drawn to the cause of advancing ESPORTS(TM)? I think the loss of energy made the choice to appeal to that motive ultimately very ineffective (as seen by Reddit's response).
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EPT
