CNN calls it “a heated debate over journalistic integrity.” But the New York Times says it looks “like an orchestrated campaign of harassment against women.”
So what the hell is GamerGate?
If you don’t play
GamerGate is a civil war between
Many of those journalists say the gamers hate them simply because they’ve written positive stories about feminists who accuse
Along the way, both sides have accused each other of online harassment, from death threats to
It’s hard to tell which side is doing the
GamerGate has no physical location, so a national board member with the Society of Professional Journalists is giving it one. It’s called SPJ AirPlay.
SPJ purports to be the nation’s largest journalism organization, with more than 7,000 members. Board member Michael Koretzky, who lives in Hollywood, is hosting a live debate that pits GamerGate advocates against journalism experts. Together, they’ll review charges of bad ethics among gaming reporters and debate how the mainstream media should cover online controversies.
“For a year, everyone’s been yelling at each other online,” Koretzky says. “It sounds weird, but I believe it’s harder to yell at someone – and harass them – in person. So that’s why we’re doing this the old-fashioned way: face to face.”
Among the panelists are Lynn Walsh, who last year helped rewrite SPJ’s Code of Ethics, the most widely accepted rules of conduct for journalists. Representing GamerGate
AirPlay is free and open to the public, but Koretzky says given GamerGate’s history, he’s hired an executive security firm – “just in case I’m wrong about that face-to-face thing.”