firehawk12
Subete no aware
You really can't make that assumption unless you know everyone who applied though.
(I'm assuming you aren't saying that all non-white, non-male applicants are automatically inferior anyway lol)
Giant Bomb #8 | It's a Hit!
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(I'm assuming you aren't saying that all non-white, non-male applicants are automatically inferior anyway lol)
EscoBlades
Ubisoft Marketing
Just wanted to address that specific point. I don't follow Giantbomb, so the debate currently raging on Twitter isn't something i'm speaking to right now.
Charles owns GameFanatics.
Malik is Gaming Editor at Nerdist.
More high profile, Evan Narcisse. Although i imagine he's happy at Kotaku.
7DollarHagane
Banned
Well all of us are guessing at everything. For all we know they offered the job to Ellison and gouskos and thy declined.
7DollarHagane
Banned
Thanks for that. I'm mostly an old 1up fan and migrated to giant bomb when that fell apart. Don't visit a lot of the other sites.
But we can assume Jeff and co saw everyone who applied. And I'm guessing Jeff isn't a racist, sexist, etc.
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Being disappointed in Patrick because they hired Dan is not reasonable.
I'd disagree. When Giant Bomb was flush with staff (both editorial and support/production), Jeff hired Patrick. I'm not for a second equating Patrick to a minority in the industry, but he was still an unexpected hire who didn't gel with the team for quite a while and turned off a significant part of their audience. Jeff doubled down and told the disgruntled to fuck off, he didn't want their business. On top of that he probably could have let Patrick go when he left SF and replaced him with a local editor who could do more of the same and generate more views (even if, like myself, you like Patrick a lot, his webcam stuff can be hard to watch).
My point is, given the opportunity, Jeff isn't trying to keep the site as this little insular one-trick-pony nor is he afraid of losing money/non-optimal budgeting. Considering everything the site has gone through and survived, judging them on this one editorial hire in years is short sighted. Let them get back on their feet with a comfort-food hire, then see where they go.
I would bet the farm the direction GB goes in the next 12-24 months will make these posts look hilarious in hindsight.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
That's true. I'm only making the assumption that they hired the familiar element based on what went down after the shutdown of Screened and the move to CBS.
I will say, I have no idea what is going on at Comic Vine these days, but I wonder if they a) hired a new editor to replace the woman who left a while ago and b) got any grief for whomever they did hire. lol
EricDiesel
Member
Because different viewpoints are cool? I don't see a problem with criticism over game sites hiring the same dudes over and over, regardless of talent level (see: Ben Kuchera).
That said I hope they mesh well. We need more energy with Vinny in New York.
TharpDaddy
Member
It's kinda disheartening that what should be an awesome thing that we celebrate is being torn down. I'm all for diversity, but can't we be happy that GB has new hires? Every situation and result that doesn't further diversity seems to be an avenue for attack and guilt trips now. Why does diversity overpower everything else? Sure, it'd be awesome to have more diversity, but it's coming across like you either hire a woman/minority or the result is painted as something very negative. I might just be crazy though.
7DollarHagane
Banned
I'm fucking thrilled to see what comes of this in the next few months and I bet almost anyone who is a giant bomb fan is too.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
As someone who likes the Powerbombcast, I'm happy that Dan is the new hire. But I'm also willing to entertain the discussion at least. I don't know if the two are mutually exclusive.
Since when did the Giant Bomb crew all have the exact same white dude viewpoint on games?
Circle Jerk
Member
Uh okay. I was being serious and not in a negative way. If the words social justice together immediately makes you think social justice warrior it is probably time to step back from the internet for a bit.
SlowRevolution
Member
I know they're from people trying to be funny but all of these "no ___? giant bomb hates ____!!!" posts can come off as weirdly insecure and defensive sometimes. the whole diversity thing is clearly a real issue that people want to talk about, whether or not you want to acknowledge that it is. the exaggerated shit seems like a blatant way of trying to make the discussion seem crazy and not worth having.
We can't assume that at all. I'm guessing large amounts of applicants were culled by HR before Jeff saw resume one.
I'm also guessing large amounts of unqualified or barely qualified people applied.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
To be fair, at one point half of their staff was from Petaluma.
BUNTING1243
Banned
I'd really like Patrick to bring in more diverse voices either through freelancers or more Giant Bomb East deputies. I think it's fair for San Francisco to go with a relatively safe set of hires considering the loss of Vinny but Patrick definitely could bring in some more diverse not full-time contributors.
As a minority I can say that this whole pro-diversity arguement is a little crazy. You are not crazy.
I also think that this whole thing stems from the fact that there isnt a lot of diversity in our games and there aren't many larger developers willing to make characters more diverse. They can conjure up any character with any back story. You can't exactly do that when hiring real people.
SlowRevolution
Member
being a minority doesn't mean you get to definitively say whether or not the argument's crazy.
He/she thinks it is crazy and is entitled to his/her opinion.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Well, everyone is entitled to their opinion.
ReignofSparrows
Member
Both sides are guilty of this. I want this issue out there, but not like this, which I posted about back during the panel stuff. There isn't much talking, just dismissal and snark from everyone all around.
Well, everyone except Matt Bodega.
AuthenticM
Member
What startles me is not the presence of criticism, but the intensity of some of it. Some of the posts on Twitter are just full of venom and vitriol and disrespect. What's going on in your life that would make you react in such a way ? This is not the Supreme Court of the USA coming out with a decision that affects the entire population or something else of equal importance; we're talking about a small website on the internets that deals with video games and dumb shit. It hiring two white dudes to be added in a team that's in the single digits should not generate what we're seeing. It would be a different story if, say, Facebook or Google exclusively hired white men when they already have thousands of employees on their payroll, but that's not the case here.
Yeah, but that's just twitter. Most of it is a stepping stone above youtube comments. If you want rational reactions to events then twitter/tumblr/youtube/comments on articles are not the places to find them.
Heh, I knew shit was going to hit the fan as soon as it was confirmed to be 2 Caucasian males.
Never mind that the company should be able to decide on what characteristics that they need.
If a hire isn't a Blue, multi-gendered, Poly-religious alien who also has negative privilege, then they were hired just because they're a male Caucasian, and not because of their ability to thrive in the GB workplace.
Never mind that the company should be able to decide on what characteristics that they need.
If a hire isn't a Blue, multi-gendered, Poly-religious alien who also has negative privilege, then they were hired just because they're a male Caucasian, and not because of their ability to thrive in the GB workplace.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
Twitter is pretty much a breeding ground of people trying to be funny by being snarky.
You just have to look at the giant bombers' feeds.
You just have to look at the giant bombers' feeds.
ReignofSparrows
Member
Apologies.
Sure ok. I'm sure Jeff saw all the applications after HR culled them. Doesn't really change what I said that much....
Hiring based on merit > hiring for diversities sake.
And since we've been watching Giant Bomb for at least 6+ years now, we know there's no discriminatory undertones in their thoughts like some of these twitter people are implying.
EscoBlades
Ubisoft Marketing
No problem. There is some good work out there.
EmCeeGramr
Member
Nobody is actually saying that Giant Bomb and/or Jeff is a racist sexist bigot.
They're pointing out that:
A) The current system of games journalism is kind of fucked up so that "qualified" automatically translates to "established mainstream person that I've met every year at every convention, with years of experience at major mainstream outlet" which sadly means a 90% chance of "qualified" meaning "a straight white man from New York or California."
B) Giant Bomb, despite being around for six years, is pretty much the only remaining major video game website that has never once hired a woman or other minority for its editorial staff.
They're pointing out that:
A) The current system of games journalism is kind of fucked up so that "qualified" automatically translates to "established mainstream person that I've met every year at every convention, with years of experience at major mainstream outlet" which sadly means a 90% chance of "qualified" meaning "a straight white man from New York or California."
B) Giant Bomb, despite being around for six years, is pretty much the only remaining major video game website that has never once hired a woman or other minority for its editorial staff.
And by pointing out B, what are the unsaid implications they want us to think about Giant Bomb?
I don't think they're dismissing social issues in gaming. One of the tweets I saw had the person insulting the intelligence of the Giant Bomb crew and saying that the world will be a better place one it's left them behind, all because they hired two people who weren't women/minorities. I don't think that's okay.
People on the right side of social issues are just as capable of spewing vitriol as those on the wrong side.
This whole thing will blow over once we get a chance to see them on the couch or hear them on the bombcast.
Bringing up a topic from a few pages ago regarding who you watch GB with: my wife uses the bombcast as a sleeping aid. Apparently brad, Jeff and vinny have very "sleepy voices." The other night she yelled at me while I was watching the GBEAST show... She doesn't appreciate Alex's voice.
Bringing up a topic from a few pages ago regarding who you watch GB with: my wife uses the bombcast as a sleeping aid. Apparently brad, Jeff and vinny have very "sleepy voices." The other night she yelled at me while I was watching the GBEAST show... She doesn't appreciate Alex's voice.
EmCeeGramr
Member
That Giant Bomb (outside of a single writer) unfortunately doesn't pay attention to an industry issue.
As someone who sleeps to the podcasts occasionally, i'll say that Bombing the AM can knock me out within 10 mins, while the Bombcast will take way longer.
Or that Giantbomb (outside of possibly a single writer) cares more about the quality of the hire than the person's sex or race.
Master_Funk
Member
Exactly. I don't disagree with their points, but the bitterness of the comments and the vitriol being thrown around completely puts me off their argument. How many of those people tweeting even visit GB regularly?
AuthenticM
Member
I'm not doing that; it should have been clear from my post.
Some people said that.
EmCeeGramr
Member
That's not really a witty reply since I was replying to hamchan's question.
It also really ignores what a lot of people have been saying; that's there's a gross implication that a woman or minority must be less qualified by default or else there'd be more of them hired, and that "quality" is an objective thing that just happens to be almost entirely possessed by white men with years of experience at a major website or magazine.
ReignofSparrows
Member
B is more rhetoric than substance to me when you look at how many hires are the subject of the scrutiny.
She loved the shows where Ryan would host because they had a solid 20 minutes of intro banter but once they got into games it's lights out for her. It's my secret drug whenever I need to sneak in more game time.
And on road trips it's just straight up illegal.
LurkerPrime
Member
That's... a question to ask Giant Bomb themselves.
Isn't anyone who didn't got the job less qualified than Dan? That's the logic, not that something inherent about women and minorities makes them worse, but that Jeff would logically pick the most qualified, who happens to be a white man.
I'm just saying Patrick is supposed to be the hard hitting journalist of the bunch but he comes from the most generic place.
I actually could not care less if GB tackles any issues. I pay for their site for the great humor.
But Patrick acts like he wants to tackle great gaming issues. Thats great! He needs to seek out real activists, not Max tempkin.
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