No, Skyrim Grandma wasn't harassed by trolls - a story in bad journalism

[Curler]

So, I just finished watching this:


At first you think "that sounds like something plausible and realistic and how awful!" A grandma having health problems and want to take time off due to Youtube trolls? Well, it's pretty much fake :/

Here's the thing, the site in this video used was vg247, and yet, about TEN other sites posted pretty much the exact same story. Now, I know a lot of news sites just pull from other sources, but the checking is bad. Shirley's Twitter even said it was fake:

ShirleyScurry on Twitter

“@VG247 VG247 I don't know who you are or where you get your ideas from, but there was NO "onslaught" of patronizing comments!!! But yes I am scaling back my videos due to health. Most people on my channel are very nice. I do wish you would delete this so it would go away.”

twitter.com

But how many sites pulled the same thing without even talking to her directly? A LOT:

It's WAY more than VG247... Way more
PCGamesN: https://archive.md/3BB5V
Vice: https://archive.md/5Kww9
Metro: https://archive.md/XiPU6
Rock Paper Shotgun: https://archive.md/PrAx1
Bleeding Cool: https://archive.md/R1iPJ
DualShockers: https://archive.md/VdvTI
Unilad: https://archive.md/djJVA
ShackNews: https://archive.md/aUfaM
AltChar: https://archive.vn/LqQd7
Republic World: https://archive.vn/qpmJw
Glitched: https://archive.vn/Rwy1y
Critical Hit: https://archive.vn/mGfmL
Lad Bible: https://archive.vn/KmpKk
The Gamer: https://archive.md/QCnOu
Forbes: https://archive.md/jygkG
Game Rant: https://archive.md/zuWjg
CogConnected: https://archive.md/EYRp8
Times Live: https://archive.md/TRqIX

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YouTuber Skyrim Grandma announces she is scaling back streams for the sake of her health after receiving patronizing comments - VG247

Beloved videogame streamer Shirley “Skyrim Grandma” Curry is pulling back from the public eye after receiving a small number of negative and patronizing comments that have affected her health.In a video posted earlier this month (via PCGamesN), 82-year-old Curry describes her frustrations over...

disq.us

Like.... that's pretty bad, and all of it just taken as fact and no one spoke to the source of it, either. They played for clicks and emotions... In a world with "fake news", it's no surprise when people can be distrusting of the media (well, as an extreme example). Playing for clicks like that, is just bad :/ At first people took it to heart and now that the BS is being shown, the pages are still up :/

 

[vestan]

games journalism is a click-fuelled hellhole, we been knew

 

[nsilvias]

this is the second time in a year i can think of where gaming sites report something without actually researching anything just because one site reported it.

 

[SageShinigami]

Always a good day when gamers can ignore how crappy internet comments can be and point a finger at journalists, The Real Issue.

 

[Deleted member 2229]

games journalism is a click-fuelled hellhole, we been knew

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Yeeeeeeep

 

[The Laughing Man]

Didn't Kotaku post the original story, too?

EDIT: Yep

 

[vestan]

Always a good day when gamers can ignore how crappy internet comments can be and point a finger at journalists, The Real Issue.

Click to shrink...

¿

internet harassment is trash but gamers aren't the only people dogpiling VG247 and the other outlets for this dawg, check twitter

 

[Jintor]

Very surprised at vice and rockpapershotgun. Those two I would i would have ranked most likely to actually try and contact Shirley before reporting.

 

[Brutalitops]

Always a good day when gamers can ignore how crappy internet comments can be and point a finger at journalists, The Real Issue.

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This is an odd take. Both can be issues.

 

[Ryuji]

Didn't Kotaku post the original story, too?

EDIT: Yep

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shocker.

 

[Curler]

Didn't Kotaku post the original story, too?

EDIT: Yep

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Another to add to the pile :/ The posts on each site almost look like a complete copy-paste of each other. I'm just not happy that they used her for clicks, with no one actually reaching out for comment.

 

[SageShinigami]

This is an odd take. Both can be issues.

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I didn't say it wasn't a problem. I said what I said.

 

[Kinthey]

Always a good day when gamers can ignore how crappy internet comments can be and point a finger at journalists, The Real Issue.

Click to shrink...

So lets ignore how Shirley actually feels?

 

[Cipherr]

It's WAY more than VG247... Way more
PCGamesN: https://archive.md/3BB5V
Vice: https://archive.md/5Kww9
Metro: https://archive.md/XiPU6
Rock Paper Shotgun: https://archive.md/PrAx1
Bleeding Cool: https://archive.md/R1iPJ
DualShockers: https://archive.md/VdvTI
Unilad: https://archive.md/djJVA
ShackNews: https://archive.md/aUfaM
AltChar: https://archive.vn/LqQd7
Republic World: https://archive.vn/qpmJw
Glitched: https://archive.vn/Rwy1y
Critical Hit: https://archive.vn/mGfmL
Lad Bible: https://archive.vn/KmpKk
The Gamer: https://archive.md/QCnOu
Forbes: https://archive.md/jygkG
Game Rant: https://archive.md/zuWjg
CogConnected: https://archive.md/EYRp8
Times Live: https://archive.md/TRqIX

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DAMN! That's a whole lot of copy pasta without reaching out to her man... Jesus.

 

[Deleted member 6730]

games journalism is a click-fuelled hellhole, we been knew

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Unfortunately, videos like in the OP don't make the situation better.

 

[zombiejames]

Wait, so no one who ran those stories actually spoke with her?

 

[Mazzle]

I just read 6 random articles and they all seem totally fine to me.
All quoted her from her VLOG, told that she is tired because of how YT works and of the backseating and some added some personal stuff to it.
Maybe you should read beyond the headline, which is often exaggerating in nature.

And do we rally have to link to archive-URL? Is it that forbidden to actually link to the actual websites?

 

[RecRoulette]

Does the other thread here still say that her health is diminishing because of the YouTube comments or something like that?

 

[Salty Catfish]

The Vice article is fine as it directly quotes the video. Some of the others, not so much.

 

[Deleted member 6730]

Honestly, I think this is a case of people reading a headline but not the story because there's nothing inaccurate about what's being reported. The source and quotes in the VG24/7 are accurate and you can watch the video to judge for yourself.


She literally says, "some of the comments are stressing me out."

My guess is the story gave her more attention than she likes.

The fact that she wasn't happy with how they reported it and didn't bother reaching out directly can be a problem.

I also quoted the guy that compiled the list of links and then linked to their comment, so I didn't actually hunt those links out myself.

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Now you're just moving goalposts. You thought this was fake news.

 

[Imperfected]

Seriously? No one even tried to contact her for a quick quote to pad their story out?

 

[Curler]

I just read 6 random articles and they all seem totally fine to me.
All quoted her from her VLOG, told that she is tired because of how YT works and of the backseating and some added some personal stuff to it.
Maybe you should read beyond the headline, which is often exaggerating in nature.

And do we rally have to link to archive-URL? Is it that forbidden to actually link to the actual websites?

Click to shrink...

The fact that she wasn't happy with how they reported it and didn't bother reaching out directly can be a problem.

I also quoted the guy that compiled the list of links and then linked to their comment, so I didn't actually hunt those links out myself.

 

[GrrImAFridge]

That most video game news sites rush to merely repost news is precisely why I almost invariably refer to their writers as bloggers rather than journalists -- because that's what they are.

 

[Mazzle]

The fact that she wasn't happy with how they reported it and didn't bother reaching out directly can be a problem.

I also quoted the guy that compiled the list of links and then linked to their comment, so I didn't actually hunt those links out myself.

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She is clearly not happy with the headline of VG247, but that's it. Otherwise almost all reported her VLOG and quoted her, saying that she is stressed because of backsteaing and idiots demanding other content.
Also you don't have to reach out to every person for a story and yes, most news don't alter that much because it's just reporting facts. There isn't much to change

 

[Gestault]

Something that's a red flag in traditional news reporting that's utterly standard practice in entertainment coverage is a lack of sourcing, in the sense of explaining the info chain for a story/coverage. That's a basic piece used to control for both deliberate and accidental misinformation being parroted in an industry-wide game of telephone.

It's especially bad in topics like this, and it's even bad when they're just sending out unverified info about game releases that needs to later be clarified/corrected by a publisher.

 

[Damn Silly]

I just read 6 random articles and they all seem totally fine to me.
All quoted her from her VLOG, told that she is tired because of how YT works and of the backseating and some added some personal stuff to it.
Maybe you should read beyond the headline, which is often exaggerating in nature.

And do we rally have to link to archive-URL? Is it that forbidden to actually link to the actual websites?

Click to shrink...

Yeah, looking at most of them and watching the video, most of them seem fine? The worst of the big ones was Metro describing it as "trolls" when I'd say it's a different type of annoyance.

I mean, I don't think many, if any, of the articles are particularly good, but few of them are dishonest (I didn't read every last one in full, so it's possible a couple are) in their reporting or anything like that.

also it was particularly hilarious as somebody recommending the fuckin' quartering as some bastion of great journalism in the comments of the VG24/7 article, and someone following it up with YongYea

 

[Mazzle]

Yeah, looking at most of them and watching the video, most of them seem fine? The worst of the big ones was Metro describing it as "trolls" when I'd say it's a different type of annoyance.

I mean, I don't think many, if any, of the articles are particularly good, but few of them are dishonest (I didn't read every last one in full, so it's possible a couple are) in their reporting or anything like that.

also it was particularly hilarious as somebody recommending the fuckin' quartering as some bastion of great journalism in the comments of the VG24/7 article, and someone following it up with YongYea

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Yesh after my initial pst I went some more and the Metro one was the one where I would say: Nah, that sounds worse than she described herself. You could call them trolls, if they do this shit on purpose, but that is just pure assumption at this point.
Most even embedded the VLOG, so I really don't see the problem, other than that some headlines are more dramatic

 

[Arthands]

Didn't Kotaku post the original story, too?

EDIT: Yep

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Seems Kotaku isn't any better

Many of these sites are just copy paste with hyperbolic headline, just like those youtubers with clickbait title and rubbish thumbnails.

 

[Uthred]

Always a good day when gamers can ignore how crappy internet comments can be and point a finger at journalists, The Real Issue.

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It's almost as if people can be concerned about and discuss several topics at once, how crazy.

 

[ggdeku]

Please stop saying Journalism when refering to games media.

There are like, 4 people who actually do any journalism in the industry.

I clicked on a couple of the links and they all seem fine? They are just explaining what this woman's vlog is about. This just seems like people getting mad at vg247's headline rather than actually engaging with the material.

 

[Raccoon]

Please stop saying Journalism when refering to games media.

There are like, 4 people who actually do any journalism in the industry.

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yeah and one of them is Curler apparently

 

[Kinthey]

Yeah, looking at most of them and watching the video, most of them seem fine? The worst of the big ones was Metro describing it as "trolls" when I'd say it's a different type of annoyance.

I mean, I don't think many, if any, of the articles are particularly good, but few of them are dishonest (I didn't read every last one in full, so it's possible a couple are) in their reporting or anything like that.

also it was particularly hilarious as somebody recommending the fuckin' quartering as some bastion of great journalism in the comments of the VG24/7 article, and someone following it up with YongYea

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Seems like she specifically appreciated Yongyea's take on it though


Her Twitter is a delight by the way

 

[texhnolyze]

From what I understand, she's basically just exhausted of the lifestyle of playing and posting new videos regularly. She's not young anymore.

 

[My Blue Heaven]

Always a good day when gamers can ignore how crappy internet comments can be and point a finger at journalists, The Real Issue.

Click to shrink...

In this case one site misrepresented the situation and a bunch of game news sites basically re-blogged the story without verification so yeah it is the fault of all those sites' staffers. I'm sure none of them give a shit.

 

[MikeHattsu]

She is clearly not happy with the headline of VG247, but that's it.

Click to shrink...

Seems to be about the headline, yeah

 

[Bit_Reactor]

I'm glad she's alright. No one better mess with Grandma Shirley.

 

[Arthands]

I just read 6 random articles and they all seem totally fine to me.
All quoted her from her VLOG, told that she is tired because of how YT works and of the backseating and some added some personal stuff to it.
Maybe you should read beyond the headline, which is often exaggerating in nature.

And do we rally have to link to archive-URL? Is it that forbidden to actually link to the actual websites?

Click to shrink...

The best way is always go to the most direct source, as indirect sources like those sites tend to filter stuffs out and thus missing out some context here and there, whether its deliberately or not

 

[Mentok]

She is clearly not happy with the headline of VG247, but that's it. Otherwise almost all reported her VLOG and quoted her, saying that she is stressed because of backsteaing and idiots demanding other content.
Also you don't have to reach out to every person for a story and yes, most news don't alter that much because it's just reporting facts. There isn't much to change

Click to shrink...

Sure, but in this case it's literally one person to reach out to. And since the whole basis of the article highlights this individual, I'd think a good journalist would reach out for a comment, or at least clarity before releasing an article. Otherwise it's just sloppy reporting no?

 

[Araujo]

kinda weird how this thread about Game Journalists taking stuff out of context for clicks is apparently taking stuff out of context to sell it's point.

 

[GungJoe]

I don't know, watching her video log makes it sound like she was really affected by a lot of comments. She doesn't seem to clarify that it's only a small number of comments in the video.

In honesty the video seems kind of messed up. She talks about not caring how many people watch her videos or subscribe, not caring about the numbers, but then says she wants to stop doing her series because not enough people are watching? She keeps saying she's playing for fun and nothing else, but if that were the case why would she not produce those videos anyway? Were they not fun before?

In any case, I think she's obviously just having a hard time dealing with and separating her online social presence from her real one. It seems like she was taking those comments to heart and letting the pressure to make videos stress her out.

 

[ReginaldXIV]

The articles seem correct outside of some sensationalist headlines? I don't think they needed to actually contact her unless they wanted further clarification about the words she said in her vlog. What she said is straight-forward so there would be no need in this though.

 

[Deleted member 59126]

So the real trolls here, were the journalists.

 

[Zips]

... She's literally quoted from HER OWN VIDEO that she's dealing with trolls in the comments.

Give me a fucking break with this "bad journalism" bullshit.

This is just more typical YouTuber clickbait garbage building off of fake outrage for the sake of some quick clicks from people that didn't bother to A) Watch her video and B) Read the article.

 

[vodalus]

shaping real life events in a narrative to support a pre-existing point of view held by the writer is really something.

 

[HiLife]

People really being mean to Skyrim Grandma? Jesus.

 

[Mozendo]

Heard about the situation hours earlier and I don't see the issue here since she was directly quoted.

 

[SinCItyAssassin]

As far as I heard, she was only mad that some websites exaggerated the situation as “an onslaught”. Outside of that it’s still true she’s taking a break for her health because some commenters in her chat just keep going with backseating or telling her to play other games. Maybe she can ask someone to help her get more moderators.

 

[Dmax3901]

Sure seems like anti-gaming media youtubers who live off drama are certainly living off some drama while accusing others of living off drama here.

 

[FlikBlueLightning]

She said what she said in her own video, it wasn’t fake. Obviously she didn’t like how it was characterized.

 

[Lord Fanny]

Yeah, don't mean to sound like a dick or anything, but OP fell for some bullshit lmao. While it's fair to say that the headlines of a lot of these are exaggerated, most of them are directly quoting the video in question. Even she herself seems to acknowledge this in other Twitter posts. Think someone got snared in that surprisingly addicting YouTube drama, and some of that media-hating, baby. The good shit.