This has been making the roams through the gaming journalists on Twitter but there was no thread on ERA to discuss it, so thought I'd make it. Russ Pitts, mostly known as the former features editor in Polygon, was on the process of trying to buy The Escapist, but fortunately one of the companies they had been in talks with was already doing it, so he'll be Editor in Chief of it. However, the Medium post where he announces this has this troubling part in it:
https://medium.com/@russpitts/the-last-of-escapist-magazine-5dd4f852703a
Honestly? This is quite dangerous. Politics are everywhere because they NEED to be everywhere. By not putting politics, you're pandering to those that dislike being criticised, giving them a safe zone from being told what they don't like to hear. Hell, in his replies there's already a dude talking that a site like this is needed "against the kotakus, polygons and waypoints". That should tell you everything you need to know about who your main audience is going to be.
He's retweeting subtweets critisising this, but it mostly seems in a passive aggresive way so I'm not sure it will change anything.
One thing I can tell you without delay or equivocation: We're leaving politics at the door. Most of us have thoughts about politics. Just like most of you. And, because we're creators, those thoughts might show up in our work. Avoiding that would be unnatural. That said, I can promise you no one here will share their politics in an attempt to convince you yours are wrong. And your worth will not be calculated based on whether you're on the left or on the right. Politics are everywhere, but they don't have to be everything. We're going to focus on what's fun, and we hope you'll join us in that.
https://medium.com/@russpitts/the-last-of-escapist-magazine-5dd4f852703a
Honestly? This is quite dangerous. Politics are everywhere because they NEED to be everywhere. By not putting politics, you're pandering to those that dislike being criticised, giving them a safe zone from being told what they don't like to hear. Hell, in his replies there's already a dude talking that a site like this is needed "against the kotakus, polygons and waypoints". That should tell you everything you need to know about who your main audience is going to be.
He's retweeting subtweets critisising this, but it mostly seems in a passive aggresive way so I'm not sure it will change anything.