I was looking through this old claim that nearly every major video game news source would fail Reuters' minimal standards of journalistic integrity. There's no way for me to access that original list, but I can do the second best thing and consult their public Handbook of Journalism. Keep in mind that these represent the MINIMAL standards by which a proper journalist should be held to.

http://handbook.reuters.com/

Recently an indie dev named "Zoe Quinn" was accused of having a sexual relationship with a Kotaku writer for positive coverage. There's an interesting bit about that.

Whether or not Zoe actually slept with him for positive coverage is irrelevant. The fact remains that she did in fact maintain a sexual relationship that represents a clear conflict of interest.

http://handbook.reuters.com/index.php?title=Integrity#Dealing_with_sources

Under section "Integrity," it states as follows.

> We encourage staff to cultivate sources but also expect them to be conscious of the need to maintain a detachment from them. We should not cultivate or associate with sources on one side of an issue to a point where there are grounds to question whether the relationship has exceeded the bounds of proper, professional contact. While it is appropriate to entertain sources, including outside working hours, regularly spending substantial leisure time with them may raise a potential conflict or a perception of bias. A good measure of the propriety of the relationship is to ask whether you would be comfortable spending as much time with another source on a different side of the issue or your beat.

A sexual relationship does not represent a sufficient detachment from the people you're supposed to report on. It represents a blatant conflict of interest if you're to hold them accountable for wrong-doing in the industry. The fact that this oversight was allowed to occur at all is far more troubling than whether or not it was substantial.

> A romantic or family attachment with a news source or with a person or persons who might be the subject of a staff member’s coverage should be disclosed to the appropriate manager.

Stephen Totilo, a supervisor for Nathan Grayson, implied that Grayson did not disclose this relationship to him until after the controversy started. The very fact that his answer wasn't clear and transparent is also troubling. Disclosure should never sound ambiguous. Ambiguity alone is reasonable cause for suspicion.

https://twitter.com/stephentotilo/status/501818736480092160


Here are a few myths that I'd like to debunk.

> Romantic relationships between reporters and industry figures are common, so therefore the relationship was still ethical.

Patently false for very obvious reasons. Just because something is common does not mean it is ethical. That's faulty logic that relies on norms instead of principle. The Reuters Handbook clearly points out this situation as problematic, no matter the industry or the context.

> Kotaku shouldn't be held to these standards.

If a news source is to maintain a certain reputation for journalistic integrity, they should be held to these minimal standards that, ideally, should cover other industries. Lowering ethical standards for "entertainment" purposes should not be an excuse for encouraging a conflict of interest when informing the public about certain games or industry developments.

If anything, this quite literally proves that Kotaku does not have journalistic integrity. Here are several other violations of journalistic standards regularly committed by Kotaku. Keep in mind that violating one represents a breach of MINIMAL ethical standards. Review copies are fine, but they should never be "limited edition" and most likely shouldn't have DLC that's not in the default product. Reviews should represent the most general version of the product out there, not an idealized and more expensive one.

http://handbook.reuters.com/index.php?title=Independence#Gifts_and_entertainment

http://handbook.reuters.com/index.php?title=Independence#Travel_and_accommodation


> This is all just misogyny.

I think we know that's bullshit, but don't encourage those claims through sexist or misogynist language. That doesn't help convince anyone who's on the fence.

To repeat one more time, whether or not Grayson gave positive coverage in exchange for sex is irrelevant. The fact is that this relationship would have represented a conflict of interest in

any other industry, such as petroleum or defense contracting. I see no reason why "video games" should be held to an insultingly lower journalistic standard.

If enough people ask me to, I'll try to write a full-blown article on this. I just wouldn't know where to publish it. I might re-post this later today.