Me, the gaming journalist
So then, I promised I'd write something before the week is over, and...it isn't over in the US yet.
Since last January, I've been the proud holder of the title of gaming journalist, or web journalist, or news monkey, or what have you.
In essence, this means that it is my duty to come up with three relatively news-worthy items five days a week, with Sunday and one other optional day being free. Now, considering how long it takes me to squeeze out those three items every day, some people might pose that I in fact have seven free days in the week instead.
I won't deny that the amount of time I put into this, when compared to how much I get paid for it, is a pretty silly equation. Before, I've had to do a good few backbreaking hours of physical labor to get the same amount, which by the way isn't enough to even cancel my unemployment benefits, but is more than it costs to buy a PS3. There is the time I spend writing, and the time I spend looking for news, though.
While it might seem to the casual observer that I am sitting on my ass in front of the computer as I would do on any given day, I do in fact have to scan through a variety of international gaming news sites on a fairly regular basis to poach the freshest headlines from them. There's people who do this as their full-time gig after all, and it won't do to always come in last with the scoop.
So, even though I can crank out those three items in under half an hour on a good day, I am kind of tied to my 'post' for the day as well. Admittedly, I can always just take the easy path and go with a triple-treat of new trailers, which require a minimum of writing; just dump them into the media before I go to bed, but I am glad to say I have a little more ambition (on most days) than that.
It is the state of gaming journalism that really pressures me to go beyond my job description. Most of the headlines that I have to 'compete' with can be summarized as 'BOOBIES'. This is yellow journalism, and also highly dubious, considering the demographic that reads these news. When there are big censorship bills in the works, as in Germany, to ban all violent videogames, I think people could get their head out of virtual cleavage for a while and focus on, dare I say, issues.
I pick and choose what I write about, which I guess could be called editorializing. I will shamelessly favor the obscure strategy games I enjoy, some quirky little projects that nobody else will reference, and so forth. I am yet to write a line on any of the big sports franchises, and do not even recall embedding one of their trailers on our pages. I do not apologize for this.
I will write about videogame legislation, about the economy, about dry things that will probably not interest our 13-year-old console gaming readers. I will write about unpopular topics, like queers in gaming, but I still see a few people clicking on those news, and it is my hope that they will remember where they got that info, and come back to look for it later, raising our pages out of the muck which they share with half a dozen others.
That's my gig. I sit at home, without any pants on, looking at sites like Kotaku and Eurogamer, and trying to be the first person to grab the fresh headlines and translate them for the website. My goal would be to make this a full-time thing, which would mean twice the news, and twice the money, but honestly, in this business, it is more likely that All of the news will get turned over to the unpaid trainee instead, so the higher ups can save a couple of Euro.
I also do have a side gig doing a tech-review page for a poker magazine, but that is every other month, and still isn't enough to actually classify me as 'working'. I really do not want to fling myself fully into the world of freelance writing, because then, I'd really need to get enough cash every month to support myself, as the benefits people wouldn't have anything to do with me. I do not want to have to constantly push myself and my writing at people, and so, am too polite for that racket.
This is an interesting little diversion though, and perhaps I'll write more on it, when I am not writing in such a rambling manner as I am now.
Since last January, I've been the proud holder of the title of gaming journalist, or web journalist, or news monkey, or what have you.
In essence, this means that it is my duty to come up with three relatively news-worthy items five days a week, with Sunday and one other optional day being free. Now, considering how long it takes me to squeeze out those three items every day, some people might pose that I in fact have seven free days in the week instead.
I won't deny that the amount of time I put into this, when compared to how much I get paid for it, is a pretty silly equation. Before, I've had to do a good few backbreaking hours of physical labor to get the same amount, which by the way isn't enough to even cancel my unemployment benefits, but is more than it costs to buy a PS3. There is the time I spend writing, and the time I spend looking for news, though.
While it might seem to the casual observer that I am sitting on my ass in front of the computer as I would do on any given day, I do in fact have to scan through a variety of international gaming news sites on a fairly regular basis to poach the freshest headlines from them. There's people who do this as their full-time gig after all, and it won't do to always come in last with the scoop.
So, even though I can crank out those three items in under half an hour on a good day, I am kind of tied to my 'post' for the day as well. Admittedly, I can always just take the easy path and go with a triple-treat of new trailers, which require a minimum of writing; just dump them into the media before I go to bed, but I am glad to say I have a little more ambition (on most days) than that.
It is the state of gaming journalism that really pressures me to go beyond my job description. Most of the headlines that I have to 'compete' with can be summarized as 'BOOBIES'. This is yellow journalism, and also highly dubious, considering the demographic that reads these news. When there are big censorship bills in the works, as in Germany, to ban all violent videogames, I think people could get their head out of virtual cleavage for a while and focus on, dare I say, issues.
I pick and choose what I write about, which I guess could be called editorializing. I will shamelessly favor the obscure strategy games I enjoy, some quirky little projects that nobody else will reference, and so forth. I am yet to write a line on any of the big sports franchises, and do not even recall embedding one of their trailers on our pages. I do not apologize for this.
I will write about videogame legislation, about the economy, about dry things that will probably not interest our 13-year-old console gaming readers. I will write about unpopular topics, like queers in gaming, but I still see a few people clicking on those news, and it is my hope that they will remember where they got that info, and come back to look for it later, raising our pages out of the muck which they share with half a dozen others.
That's my gig. I sit at home, without any pants on, looking at sites like Kotaku and Eurogamer, and trying to be the first person to grab the fresh headlines and translate them for the website. My goal would be to make this a full-time thing, which would mean twice the news, and twice the money, but honestly, in this business, it is more likely that All of the news will get turned over to the unpaid trainee instead, so the higher ups can save a couple of Euro.
I also do have a side gig doing a tech-review page for a poker magazine, but that is every other month, and still isn't enough to actually classify me as 'working'. I really do not want to fling myself fully into the world of freelance writing, because then, I'd really need to get enough cash every month to support myself, as the benefits people wouldn't have anything to do with me. I do not want to have to constantly push myself and my writing at people, and so, am too polite for that racket.
This is an interesting little diversion though, and perhaps I'll write more on it, when I am not writing in such a rambling manner as I am now.