Gamespot Editor Speaks Out About Firing

Kotaku has an interview with an anonymous Gamespot employee about the recent firing of an employee. The rumor has been that Jeff Gerstmann was fired for a scathing review of Kane & Lynch. Coincidentally, K&L's publisher, Eidos, was the featured advertiser on the site. Shortly after the review was posted, Gerstmann was fired and the review yanked from Gamespot.

Now speaking on the condition of anonymity, another Gamespot editor is speaking out about the incident, sold to Gamespot staff as a "mutual" decision:

The confusion over the reasons for Gerstmann's termination, compounded with a lack of transparency from management has created a feeling of "irreconcilable despair" that may eventually lead to an exodus of Gamespot editorial staffers. "Our credibility," said the source, "is in ruins." Over the course of the previous days, a "large number of Gamespot editors" have expressed their intentions to leave. Tales of emotionally deflated peers, with no will to remain at the site, were numerous.

Unless cooler heads prevail or concerns are addressed, Gamespot could see "mass resignations", our source revealed

It's a provocative article with serious ramifications for Gamespot's reputation as a legitimate gaming news source. Be sure to read it and lend your thoughts on our forums.

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I'm so tired already of reading about this. No one will ever truly get to the bottom of this and it is the fault of the game spot employees who idolize Jeff Gerstmann. This has gotten blown out of proportion by anonymous Game spot employees leaking rumors, conjecture and posting unsubstantiated drivel on blogs which get reposted. it took a week for any
legitimate publication to write about it and even they acknowledged it was all based on rumors.

These people are only making it worse for the company they work for. They sit there and talk about their integrity and pour alcohol on the fire at the same time. Grow up. It's fine to be hurt, upset and confused, but but these people shouldn't go making things worse by speaking on things they have no first hand knowledge of. If you really have something to say, have the balls to say it and not hide behind anonymity.

The timing of this was unfortunate, but the guy, regardless of his cult standing in the gaming world, was a loose canon as an employee. And for those that think this affects the integrity of game spot as a gaming news source, get a clue. For all of you rumor mongers that still work there, is your work biased and sub par? If not shut up, get back to work and bring us news about games not gossip.

Nice first post, except you fail to address the issue that Gamespot has NOT addressed the issue. The rumormill is grinding out some serious credibility-destroying content, and so far Gamespot has done nothing to prove it false. It is very clear that ignoring the rumors is not the way to go as the internet is the forum of choice for biased news being believed wholeheartedly.

Do we know what happened for sure? No. But given the timing of everything, I'm inclined to the believe the rumors (albeit with a grain of salt), and Gamespot's choice to ignore it only makes me believe it more. The video game industry is worth billions of dollars and growing, and big budget titles have a lot to lose with bad reviews. It's not difficult to imagine a big publisher like Eidos trying to throw its weight around when they have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising money to a website that trashed the game they are advertising. Part of me can even agree with that decision with so much at stake. But IF the rumors are true, and Gamespot capitulated with the firing, then the website's integrity has been compromised in the most disgusting way possible.

Yes, journalism needs money to keep moving. But when they choose money over news and supporting their employess (especially when reviews across the net agree with him), they are no longer a source for journalism but rather a puppet for big corporations.

TLDR right?