Courtesy of “The Free Dictionary”:

1. Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.

3. The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness.

For anyone that puts the word “journalist” anywhere near their job description, this is a very important word. It’s easily defined, yet not so easily acted upon. Time and time again a journalist has to present news, whether it affects them on a personal level or not, as unbiased as possible. Lately, it’s been getting harder to find a journalist with this particular distinction.

In the gaming world it’s almost as bad. There were many cries of foul pointed at G4 during E3 2005, when all their talk was over a bunch of CGI videos that Sony put together, rather than Microsoft showing off actual games. Whether that particular accusation was deserved or not is another editorial, but for some, including many Sony fans, this was proof positive that G4 was bought, paid for, and no longer a trusted gaming source.

Is it coincidental that G4’s gaming content started to trickle away after that? Who knows, and considering its G4, who cares.

The idea was funny, so we figured “what the hey?” We turned in our ideas and had them approved by the teacher pretty quickly. We started working on our stories and when someone was done, we filmed their segment. We even came up with a commercial for a muscle juice concoction, just to add to the fun.

We saved taping the terrorist story for last, since we had the hardest time coming up with a script we all liked. Eric was playing the terrorist, I was the interpreter, and some other guy was doing the interview. As we started to setup, the teacher pulled us aside and told us that we couldn’t do the story, since it wasn’t real news.  

We were upset, because we had told her about it from the beginning, and hated that she was pulling this last minute. Not to mention, we had already filmed the anchor spots that had talked about the upcoming interview, and we would have to either re-film them, or come up with something to explain its absence.

The teacher said we had an additional week to fill in the last story, and that she was sorry. Eric and I shrugged it off and he decided to go check on something sports related instead. On Monday we sat down to watch the first news program from another group. Everything was going ok, until they started a news segment where a student had taken the entire student council hostage in the student faculty room.

Eric and I were not friends, heck I could barely stand the kid, but he was funny and had his moments in the brain department. We never hung together outside of school, and didn’t even spin in the same social circle. But somehow we both managed to look each other square in the eyes at that moment, when we realized we got screwed.

This was pre-9/11 boys and girls, the terrorist sensitivity level in America was somewhere below the concern that dogs were secretly planning to take over the world. There was no reason for our story to be pulled.

We confronted the teacher, this particular group that was given carte blanche, just so happened to be the teacher’s darlings throughout the school, but the teacher denied this to be the reason. After much haranguing with her she blurted out: “Because I said no!”

It reminds me of the Journalism class and our editor’s decision to cut a story that was just as valid for some other group, but not ours. I wonder how many honest journalists have been stymied by editors who have advertising deals with developers or hardware vendors, and they can’t afford to mess with the bottom line. Do some companies get preferential treatment because of it? Do some reviews or previews get edited to the point of glowing when the original intent was to bash? It’s hard to say for sure, but it’s always something I ask myself when I read a gaming site or magazine.

But mostly, I ask myself, as a “gaming journalist” how do I show that I am nothing like that?

The answer is, of course simple: By putting my money where my mouth is, by not backing down when I feel certain that a story is correct, and by not burying the mistakes I made and hope everyone forgets.

Back in early October of 2005, I received an e-mail that suggested Grand Theft Auto was going to be exclusive to the PS3 for a period of time before the Xbox 360 would get it. I researched all over the web, attempted to contact Sony and Rockstar about it, and finally, on October 23^rd I wrote this article that declared:

Next Generation Grand Theft Auto to be PS3 exclusive for 8 months!

Now then, unlike other sites, I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is. If this does not come to pass after Xbox 360 has been out for two weeks, I will sing any song that YOU the loyal listeners/readers choose. This song will be performed on a podcast done after the two week timeframe.

I will also sing the song as Eric Cartman of South Park.

I figured that would at least put a level of integrity into it, because frankly, doing a Cartman impression HURTS, singing would be worse. It would be a reminder of my failure, and something entertaining as payback for my mistake.

Then on November 9^th, I received a phone call from one of the companies I tried to contact, they pointed me to an article that was done by the New York Times regarding how Rockstar was there for the launch of the PS2, and was doing the same now with the PSP. The source basically told me that history does repeat itself. It was as close to a confirmation as they were willing to give me. Hence this article:

Begun this Console War has.. GTA IS CONFIRMED EXCLUSIVE.

But no announcements came.

Undaunted, and still confident in my source, I countered my original offer, saying that we should wait till after GDC, since there were Xbox 360 shortages, maybe Sony was just waiting for the right moment to reveal everything.