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Comment by cosinetau | Hacker News Reader

What is game journalism doing right [if anything] that tech journalism can borrow or learn from?

Not much. That field's arguably got even more problems, and takes the fanboyism and cheerleader attitude thing even further than the tech news sites do. And that's not even getting into the questionable level of research involved, which often means 'treating random people posting rumours on social media as reliable sources'.

It's very strange to me how many people on the Internet constantly want to talk about "games journalism", which seems like an extremely niche area. So many very strong opinions about something that... really doesn't matter? I feel like there's more games journalism journalism than just games journalism, and I cannot even begin to approach an explanation of why that is.

"games journalism", which seems like an extremely niche area.

Gaming is huge. Absolutely huge. Why do you think that games journalism is not only niche, but extremely niche?

I feel like there's more games journalism journalism than just games journalism,

> Why do you think that games journalism is not only niche, but extremely niche?

I can't really speak to whether or not its niche in an objective sense (i.e. the readership of games journalism), but it may seem that way because the stakes are so low. Games are essentially just entertainment and the availability of accurate information about them is not nearly as important as information about the functioning of government or the actions of large companies that can impact your life.

Movie & TV journalism seems fairly huge. Aren't games pretty much the same in terms of $$$ spent at this point?

Gamers are very, very active on the internet and social media. So you get a lot more talk about the problems in journalism related to their field than you may for say, the problems in fishing or gardening journalism, where the audience is perhaps less active online.

It also (like most entertainment media) has a large audience, hence the amount of discussions. And that's what gets people discussing it.

It's the same reason sports journalism is so big online compared to its real world impact. Lots of people are interested in the field, regardless of how it affects 'more important' things.

From what i can tell, the main thing that games journalism is doing right is to find an audience with very low standards for journalism.

Can you point me to a single piece of significant reporting on video games, that came from within the "video games journalism" industry? i.e. not just reviews or rumours about upcoming games, but actually breaking a story that holds people or companies accountable for something in a way that had a lasting impact?

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