Mar 1, 2007 05:50 PM
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I once had a friend who was not only an alcoholic, but an angry alcoholic that would not only vomit all over himself, but would punch his friends and shout at them while he vomited all over them, too. Sony, you are helpful to us here at Giz. I might even say kind. But right now, as you ban sibling gaming site Kotaku, and editor Brian Crecente, from all Playstation briefings, you remind me of that friend.
Come on, let's get out of the gutter and go on home.
The truth is, in the world of gadget writing, PR people and editors are not working against each other. Quite the contrary. There's a symbiotic relationship between the two factions. It's their job to give us information, and its our job to filter it, skeptically, with as much analysis that can be mustered. The overlapping goal is to get information out to readers as quickly and accurately as possible. Hopefully by way of a scoop for Gizmodo. Usually, this is fine and good. But this time, a line has been crossed.
To Sony: I know you've gone to great lengths to control the information about the projects you've worked on. But these are your loose lips, and we're just doing our jobs. And if you'd just look at the bigger picture, buzz is far more valuable than whatever the marketing machine can dream up. This is gossip! People love this shit. Don't fight it. Anyhow, the damning move you're pulling on Kotaku does nothing but alienate the press and readers you hope to win over, and confirms the rumor as having legs. Legs like a robot racehorse being jockeyed by Heidi Klum. My god, that is so sexy.
To Brian, Editor at Kotaku, and a friend and colleague: I'm proud of what you've done, and I don't think you had any choice but to burn this bridge. The conditions they threw down were unacceptable. Rest easy knowing that Kotaku is fast enough that you can be on top of any story within 2 minutes of embargoes lifting. You don't need them. But I know you did value the relationship you'd built with them over hundreds of fair posts, rumor and otherwise.
I'm sure things will fix themselves in time. Sometimes splits like these need to happen to redefine the boundaries between PR and edit. God bless the freedom of the press, even on such a silly topic as gadgets and gaming. As you read our words and this post, remember the time Kotaku and Giz worked on the PS3 launch in sync, with units you shipped out to us with great haste? Wasn't that great fun? Let's hope days like these are ahead of us, too.
Sony Blackballs Kotaku [Kotaku]
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