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Journalism and professionalism

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#1
FerahgoTheGreat

Just adding my two cents.

I quite enjoy the kind of "leaks" put out by people like james_ff and others. However, there is a clear difference between that kind of content and professional content produced by paid writers at sites like Blix, Dexerto, etc. Those sites would not publish that kind of work because the sources cannot be vetted or trusted. The problem a lot of "mainstream" journalists have with this kind of amateur content is the community reaction discrediting the long and difficult process it takes to produce actually trustworthy content and the confusion between the two. Its a similar battle they've had with the kind of "twitter journalism" produced by the likes of the Jake Luckys of the world. Trust takes months if not years to build and a single incident to destroy which is why professional investigative journalists spend days or weeks making sure they have multiple primary sources and working with editors that not only improve the writing but also guide the decision making process of whether something is publishable. The best investigative journalists have folders of unpublished reports (some that happened and some that didn't) that could have gotten them clicks, but were too risky to stake their reputation to. I think the amateur leaks have a place (VLR forums are a pretty good place for that), and I would actually encourage discussions like it (although hoping for civil discussions on public forums might be a tad ambitious of me). However, I would warn people trying to make it beyond that point, that it can and will become a detriment to have an untrustworthy reputation around anyone willing to pay real money for journalism.

Whether or not amateur leaks should be counted as "journalism" is a semantics game that I don't really care that much about. I'm a nuclear engineer, I just write for fun.

Will this change many people's minds? Probably not. Was writing this a waste of my time? Not to me. I got my start talking to anyone about esports on these forums, and I care far more about the ten sane people than the million rabid dogs. Voicing my opinions into the chaotic void is more about the principle than the outcome.

#2
LyCan52
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ain't

#3
s0ber
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allat

#4
zen-o
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Holy fuck you’re a nuclear engineer?

#6
kaninv
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ferahgo is actually crazy I respect it

#10
FerahgoTheGreat
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Yeah, I am a graduate student currently. My summer internship was in a fenced off location with armed guards (although the kind of work they let interns do is not the kind that requires that stuff).

#13
zen-o
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That’s insane man, much respect.

#5
geometrix
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bro just said james can't post on twitter because thats the place for "real" journalism?????

hasn't he made it clear to take his posts with a grain of salt?

#9
Kirya
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yeah idk what is with everyone
I dont think james has ever claimed that his posts are 100% factual and everyone knows that he gets the information from streams

#15
Ullyr
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Gatekeepers lol

#16
FerahgoTheGreat
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twitter = public forums like VLR
you missed the point

#18
geometrix
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So are you saying what he's doing is fine then?

I'm hearing: He's posting the information he gets on twitter, which is OK, but at the same time also disrespectful to journalists who post their "vetted" information on Twitter?

#7
Dolphin
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I disagree 🗿

#8
dayyaan1
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mucho texto caralho

#11
kapteN
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Got downvoted for basically saying the same.

People don’t understand journalism

#32
tomato211222
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Same here

#12
michaelisupset
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bro casually said he’s a nuclear engineer wtf 💀

#14
yukky
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So you think james should stick to VLR where you can control him and not march to twitter where he already gets more followers and engagements than u guys?

Plus who’s the ten sane people you’re talking about because it for sure ain’t all the vlr content piece creators?

also
aint

#19
FerahgoTheGreat
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Nope
twitter = public forums like VLR

#21
yukky
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Then there’s no difference between you guys and james other than people like and trust james more?

Got it all good thanks

#17
wykes
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He has to start somewhere, if he doesn't have the source he needs to something to get them, and not doing anything is not going to help him on that.
What is truly shameful is the fact that instead of trying to help or guide James to be on the right track they just flame and start clowning him for trying to get into the Esports Journalism scene.
Expanding to twitter might be good for him to get more reach and grow faster, but not with those kinds of criticism instead of feedback.

#20
kaninv
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I READ ALLAT AND I HAVE A COMMENT. also I appreciate the level headed response, thanks and hope you're well.

Those sites would not publish that kind of work because the sources cannot be vetted or trusted. The problem a lot of "mainstream" journalists have with this kind of amateur content is the community reaction discrediting the long and difficult process it takes to produce actually trustworthy content and the confusion between the two. Trust takes months if not years to build and a single incident to destroy which is why professional investigative journalists spend days or weeks making sure they have multiple primary sources and working with editors that not only improve the writing but also guide the decision making process of whether something is publishable.

This is understandable, however James is doing what he can with the information he has. I think that's the big problem a lot of people have. They understand the information might not be 100% correct, they understand that it's just the knowledge that James has, but they still enjoy it and see it as journalism since he is reporting on information that is not readily known. I posted this before but he has to start somewhere and I think the goal is eventually to make these works trustable where they can be vetted. I don't see where there can be a start point to the process of gaining those connections without the initial posts, but I agree accountability has to be there no matter what. What is your opinion on this and what do you think James could be doing better or different to differentiate his works and or elevate them to the point of being able to be vetted and trustable while working his way up to trustable connections and reports?

#25
FerahgoTheGreat
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The analogy is, its a 100% carb diet that gets quick energy but will struggle to be healthy long term. There is a market for consuming that kind of content, but that doesn't mean people can't speak out against the glucose in favor of the complete diet.

In terms of a good starting point... its rough. It mainly comes down to networking which I would not enjoy doing myself. DMing journalists/talent/org staff/players/etc out of the blue will lead to a big strikeout rate, but getting some connections with people who do the kind of work you want to do in order to learn their techniques/collaborate/network is the most straightforward path. I don't have experience with investigative journalism, so I am not the best source for getting started, but thats how I would go. What I do know is: Patience is key.

#27
kaninv
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Thanks for the response Ferahgo! I think your response is fair, just seems like to start it'll be extremely hard if not possible, and James_ff's strategy to get in is reporting stuff other's wouldn't because maybe it isn't verifiable/final information but pieces of the puzzle. from what I know, James is in contact with BoDork which could lead to other connections and branch into reporting more verifiable information. Appreciate the response a lot and you worded it well.
Take care!

#28
yukky
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But it wasn’t "speaking out," right? Your fellow content creators got their egos hurt and started attacking him. There was no professionalism; there was no letting him know that this isn’t 100% accurate, but instead you guys just started straight up attacking him because people like him more.

What a weird situation lol. It requires both sides to reflect, but one side more than the other lol....

#33
tomato211222
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That's why it's called"investigative content creation and not as journalism till trust builds

#22
number1_cned_hater
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give me a tldr
so you think it's okay for james_ff to continue what he is doing or not

#23
Kirya
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yeah he thinks it's okay

#24
kaninv
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The People's TL;DR

James' posts are fine and Ferahgo encourages them, but larger journalists only post stuff they know is 100% correct and is verifiable and work very hard to do so which James is not doing, which is why they are pissed off.

#26
crashhacker1
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The issue becomes the official sources will not give the "official journalists" the go ahead to publish until its very close to the official announcement. james_ff never competed with anyone, not officially anyway. Your medium on where to publish the sources is entirely subjective. If you think vlr is amateur while giving twitter the official tag, its YOUR line which is not the same for many here. All he does is post multiple scrim pics and theory crafts on VLR, then posts it on twitter with a maybe. That's it. He's not stating as if its a fact, so why are you (and others) treating it as one & denouncing it.

I do agree with semantics part but I cant agree about the medium where he can & cant post. Do you think dexerto doesnt have clickbait articles? Your standard to james_ff is far more harsh than you apply for these websites you deem official. I think the main issue here is, james_ff has been with the community for a while mingling so we know how he's getting the scrim pics. While the other "official journalists" are all knee deep in conflict of interests who cant say shit to each other or publish. James_ff doesnt need to go by those rules.

#30
FerahgoTheGreat
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I don't know why people are getting confused by the twitter/vlr forum debate. Both are not the professional sites I'm talking about. I'm not saying that he shouldn't be allowed to post anywhere. I would find it incredibly disturbing if he was barred from posting in any public forum/twitter/etc. But, there is a market for trustworthy news, and the places with money pay to protect that trust. I am not saying he should be discouraged from posting, or from trying to climb, but to paraphrase an analogy I made earlier in this thread, people invested in making/selling/consuming complete diets can and will criticize the pure carb diet.

#29
jawn
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you're a WHAT?

#31
capital_d_colon
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I agree.
I think there is valid criticism to be made about what james_ff is doing.
A lot of what he is saying is , to put in bluntly, somewhat baseless and presenting it as anything else would be dishonest.
He has a nice little niche but his post are more speculative pieces rather than concrete pieces.

It's impossible to build a journalistic career off of misinformation.
As you said, one failed report can end a career.

#40
tomato211222
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Exactly what I said maybe not as clear as you made it but getting hated by so many people who just say"leorge leddes" l_santos

#34
sheahhhh
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Blud its Twitter not the new york times, rare ferahgo L
If u think eutalyx and George are real reporters, ur delusional

#36
h786
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in that case no one is.

esports journalism is an incredibly niche category and its difficult to stay professional in this space, like in other industries.

#37
sheahhhh
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The only real esports journalists are the score esports lil broski

#39
h786
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yes 👍

esports journalism is an incredibly niche category and its difficult

#35
Ullyr
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Allat

#38
nutab1e
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Holy fuck I am NOT reading a word of that shit!

#41
hiroshi_kenji
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you have to put same standard to dexerto, dotesport, etc. do you think they didn't put any clickbait or trash article that can be made by chatgpt ? #26 made it clear. community know what james doing is not 100% true, but no "esport journalism" should getting pressed because of him. esport journalism is 90% trash anyway, just copypasta from twitter or the official twitter.

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