Cool.
It was really funny at first, but then you started standing on a soap box and politicizing everything at the very end. Not consistant enough to be worth much, sorry.
Reviews for "Virtual Journalist"
so sad.
The ending was beautiful for those who pressed next after the written 'speech' at the end of the game. so sad.
Sigh.
Pretty well done flash, but the message was stupid. I graduated from one of the top journalism schools in the country, and I've worked for numerous magazines, and I can tell you that this flash is almost entirely bunk.
I could easily get access to any story (in govt, for instance) if I wanted. And that 'quote' at the end is ENTIRELY FABRICATED. Nothing but an internet hoax. Whatever. People will believe what they want to....
Watch out! Here comes Amercia! BOOGA BOOGA!
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kinda dumb
The Bias of Biases
At first, the game starts as a rather clever lampoon about the Media, criticizing their preference to run stories which will sell, rather than inform, however it soon degrades into a rather predictable rant against both governments and businesses. While both certainly have done their share to deserve criticism, phrases like "The president wants to go to war with a 3rd world leaders because he tried to kill his dad and acquire nuclear weapons a decade ago" are inaccurate, and just plain annoyingly cliché.
Then, he goes on to target Fox News. While Fox News has a more obvious tilt with Conservative hosts, the news they report is indeed well balanced, with experts from both sides who get to speak their minds. Certain other networks, namely the Big Three, NBC, CBS and ABC, give extra time and focus to their pet side, usually the Liberal side, and claim impartiality. A good book to read on the Bias of news is "Bias" by Bernard Goldberg, a CBS newsman and self admitted liberal.
My last big gripe is the list of "Seven Deadly Media Sins". In particular, what he lists as the apparently most important. While I will agree that Superficiality, Sensationalism, Pandering, Regurgitation, Omission, and Distraction are egregious faults of the media, Apathy, listed at 7 in a different color, is one which should be encouraged. The News Media is not there to stir emotions, or change the world, much to the surprise of those within the media. They are there to inform, investigate, and provide the public a means to keep government honest.
Alas, this 'game' seems more propaganda than anything.
FreshLaundry responds:
Firstly, I want to say that I appreciate such a thorough review. Even if it is mostly negative, you spent a lot of time on it and I am grateful. Also, you are right that my statement about the president was inaccurate. I should have said, ‘The president wants to go to war with a 3rd world country to steal their oil, boost his ratings, and pay back the oil and defense contractors that bought his presidency.’
As for Fox news, I’m afraid you have no ground to stand on there. Saying Fox is fair and balanced is like saying the Klu Klux Clan is all-inclusive cause they have a few black guys at their cross burnings. Bernard Goldberg is no more a liberal than I am a priest. Much of ‘Bias’ (the checkable facts, anyway; most of it was hearsay and opinion) has been discredited – especially the malarkey about the Lexus Nexus searches. Try reading ‘Lies and the Lying Liars who tell them’ by Al Franken, read MediaWhoresOnline.com for a week, read Big Lies by Joe Conason, ‘Blinded by the Right’ by David Brock (a hardcore right-wing attack machine who grew a conscience), or ‘What Liberal Media?’ by Eric Alterman.
Regarding apathy, I was referring not to emotional pandering (which I’ve had enough of too!), but rather that the media doesn’t care about the worldwide and personal consequences of it’s stories. They will risk the country’s security to be first to tell military details, they will skewer a politician because someone with a partisan motive will pay them big bucks to be a ‘consultant’, they will speculate and humiliate and degrade and distort – and they don’t give a rat’s ass about who it hurts or what happens as a result, they only care about the bottom line. Each one of the journalist ‘segments’ in that animation was a representation of the words that show at the end, I tried to explain through analogy.
They are too cynical to inform, too cheap to investigate (and you don’t want to piss off any corporate advertisers!), too beholden to the government teat to keep the government honest. I tried to explain that – if you tell the truth, they ask you never to come back. Now your paper doesn’t have a connection to the government line that all of your competitors will get first, and they fire your ass.
Sorry buddy, it ain’t propaganda if it’s true. But thanks for your time.