Now THAT'S journalism

I'm sure everyone's seen this by now.

A while ago, I woke up drowsy and spaced out, and opened up my browser to give the sites I frequent a quick look before I started to brew my coffee, which would bring me back to my senses just like it did every other morning. Turns out coffee wasn't necessary. because reading the posts over at Kotaku and Gizmodo about the former being blacklisted by Sony served the same purpose.

I'd like to point out that I'm extremely, extremely proud of Kotaku for what they've done this day. That took balls and they had them in abundance. This is something I have always respected the site for and this particular incident has only increased my respect for Brian Crecente and the rest of Kotaku's editors. This is what journalism is about. These are the examples that should be followed. These are the ethics that every single journalist should take into consideration while writing a story.

"Am I doing the right thing?"
"Is what I'm writing honest and heartfelt?"
"Am I sure this isn't a piece of trash whose only purpose is to flamebait and drive traffic and make it to the front page of Digg?"

While those may not seem like relevant questions (especially that last one), they are. Very much so. As video game journalists, we have a responsibility to be the only people in the gaming industry who don't spread hype, who don't flamebait, who don't try to call attention to ourselves and most importantly, we are the only ones who link the public -- the fans of gaming -- to the industry itself. Our opinions are valued and we shouldn't take advantage of that for personal gain.

A rusty pipe leads to infected water and sick people. Or something.

Kotaku has my undying love.