Email for the Star Newspaper

OctavarIan

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Well i don't see why i shouldn't reply to it, stand up for what i believe in. Thats why our economy is the way it is. No, not because some yank decided to blame gaming for shootings in Yankmerica, but because we don't do anything about, well, anything.

As i said above, i don't normally emial to give out, but he touched a vein and i had to reply, or kill a cop, rob his gun, steal his car, plough through 200people and a row of Hare-Krishna's (GOURANGA!), eat a burger, shoot some army guys, steal a tank, blow up a couple of dozen cars, and escape the long arm of the law on a bicycle before getting to one of my many apartments and sleeping so they'll forget about me.

I'm not suggesting that it's a bad thing to email them, I think the article was a loads of bollocks myself. The people who blame videogames for gun crimes are typically older conservative Americans, the same demographic who stereotypically own guns or grew up in a family that owned one. The only people who genuinely side with them would be other conservatives.

I'm just saying, The Star knew exactly what they were doing publishing this, newspapers have been doing it since the dawn of time. I would change the direction of your email to focus on attacking the person who wrote the article, not the paper. Read the opening paragraph, they will read that and close the email instantly. If you attack the person who wrote the article you'll at least stand a chance at getting published on a letters page or something.

Potential-Monke

I intended on attacking both to be honest, maybe it didn't come across that way. Ah well, we'll see if i even get a reply, not counting on it, but i do feel a bit better for sending it!

Agricola

Potential-Monke wrote: »

@Agricola: My apologies for not realising your, now blatently apparent, sarcasm. But gaming is my thing, and i'm very fond and protective of her.

No worries, Im just in one of my moods. Felt like abit of winding up. Im with ya completely. The witch-hunt of gaming is something I hate too.

SuperInfinity

Don't take this the wrong way, but I've taken the liberty of giving my opinion on the good/bad points in your email.

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I am writing to you, annoyed, that you would allow an article with a biased and uninformed opinion into your newspaper.

A bit redundant. Everyone thinks an opinion they don't agree with is biased and uninformed.

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I do acknowledge that ye are a tabloid, and as such will print anything that gets attention,

Ahaha... fail. If they do then why are you even reading the paper? That's not a good way to get them to print it.

Potential-Monke wrote: »

but i am extremely annoyed that you allowed a "voice from New York City" to voice his opinion that video games were the cause for the recent killings in America involving Senator Gabrielle Giffords.

Okay, this is fine. This is how you should have started it. If they did print it (they won't), they would edit out the earlier parts of it and begin here.

Potential-Monke wrote: »

In the article, Mr. O'Dowd states that it is "violent images" that "probably caused" the crazed killer to go off. In this statement alone, the author completely removes all hope of a un-biased and factual atricle, instead playing on peoples fear of the unknown. It is in the use of the word "probably" that this author manages this. How can one right a fair article when going on probability?

The word "probably" is better than the word "definitely" there... I don't get the focus on the word probably you have.

Potential-Monke wrote: »

He goes on to say, after blaming violent images in cinema, that it is the "law of video games to kill or be killed and if you haven't accumulated a hundred or so bodies by the end of the game you have been a waste of space". I find this sentance to be the most uninformed, biased, and downright rediculous view of gaming i have ever, in my 27 years of life, encountered. This man must basing this view on a single advert or hearsay of a particular genre of gaming. He obviously does not know that there is an entire ganre of racing games that are focused on pure driving (Gran Turismo 5, Forza Motorsport 3, et al), or a ganre of puzzle games that don't come anywhere near violence (Puzzler 2011, Lumines, at al), or even games directly aimed at the younger audience that are sickeningly colourful and happy (Viva Pinata, Detective Barbie, at al). I haven't even mentioned Platformers, Role-Playing Games, Strategy, and Simulation genres, all of have some to many games that are not violence orientated.

You don't really believe that do you? You really think he doesn't know about them? He was stating something that he knew was incorrect but felt some kind of journalistic licence to say it about all of them. Don't add to this by saying something that you know is incorrect as well. (I don't know if you actually believe that there was none or not). Also forget this "sickeningly colourful" nonsense, you're writing about his article on videogames not giving your personal opinion on how you don't like some videogames because they're too cutesy.

Potential-Monke wrote: »

The games that the author refers to, the Call of Duty/Medal of Honor series, all of which are First Person Shooters, and to which his "law of video games" refers, are all 18's rated, and as such if a child under that age is playing them then it is the fault of the parents for allowing them to play the games, and they had possible even bought them in the first place. And these series alone are based on fact, based on recollections of actual war, and thus are bound to be violent in nature. And no more violent than the documentaries shown in schools and on satellite television.

Fine... I guess... I personally wouldn't agree though that it would be the parents' fault if indeed the games were damaging. Much like I wouldn't blame parents if their children were consuming illegal drugs.

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I have read many an article that blame video games for a variety of incidents, all of which were, like Mr. O'Dowd, not researched and biased. I am looking for an apology for printing an article which alienates the gaming community, labelling us all as psychopaths in waiting, killers waiting for that one snap that will send us over the edge and into a frenzy of mindless murder. The gaming industry was worth USD$9.5billion and USD$11.7billion in 2007 and 2008 respectively (ESA Annual Report). If everyone who was involved in contributing to those figures (ie: the gamers), then there would not be 1 person left in this world alive. Walking down the street in Mr. O'Dowds world would mean watching mass murders on every street corner.

Again, i am looking for an apology, preferably printed in an upcoming issue of your tabloid.

Okay look, this whole paragraph sucks. You won't get any "apology", they would never apologize in a situation like this.

Half the people who read the paper are probably gamers themselves or were gamers, and the other half buy them for their children without a second thought. (shur a quarter of them probably have experience with real guns considering this is the Star...)

I mean the article isn't even meant to be taken seriously. And if some tiny percentage of people do, who cares?

If I were you and if you really wanted to get it published, I would totally edit all of your letter, do you really think they're going to publish anything even half as long as that?!

And don't ask for an apology, they'll just laugh at you. Frankly, your last paragraph doesn't even make sense.... Suppose for a second that videogames DID cause people to be more violent, that WOULD NOT mean that "nobody would left alive", it would just mean that everyone would be a little more violent and a tiny bit more likely to murder people. If that were the case, I would be totally against videogames in all ways. But he never made any claims about how every person who plays a videogame is suddenly turned into a violent murderer.... you're the one who's saying he said that when, bad as his article was, he did not say anything like that.

Krieg

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Any chance you'd copy and paste that, don't have access from work...

Journalist defends GTA: Raoul Moat story
by Ben Parfitt | Email a friend | Print
31 comments

Jerry Lawton says he’s “baffled” by the reaction to his story from men who “sit around all day playing games”
The Daily Star journalist who penned yesterday’s story claiming that a Grand Theft Auto game based around the recent Rothbury shootings is in the works has stated that he’s surprised by the reaction to the piece.
Furthermore, speaking on his Facebook page Lawton chose to make a further dig at gamers.
“Baffled by the fury of adult gamers,” he wrote, as reported by Destructoid. “These are grown (?!?) men who sit around all day playing computer games with one another who've today chosen to enter the real world just long enough to complain about my story slamming a Raoul Moat version of Grand Theft Auto!
“You would think I'd denied the Holocaust!!! Think I'll challenge them to a virtual reality duel....stab....I win!!!”
Lawton’s comments are unlikely to win favour with an industry already irritated by his ignorance of the medium.
Article continues below
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MCV is yet to receive an official comment from the Daily Star, who removed the story shortly after we contacted them. A copy of the piece can be found here -

http://www.mcvuk.com/static/images/assets/565/1055_DailyStar_GTARothbury.jpg

The paper ended up paying rockstar (company that make GTA) an undisclosed settlement

Johro

Robby91 wrote: »

And, as Joe Duffy apparently likes to call him, that 60 Cent fellow! :pac:

The 'half a euro chap'.

silvervixen84

You should send it to the legal department. All complaints will be forwarded there anyway, even if you email the reporter directly.

The email from that website is legal@thestar.ie

baalthor

Here is the original article:
http://www.irishcentral.com/story/news/periscope/violent-films-video-games-played-role--in-gabbie-giffords-shooting-killings-113422074.html

You can leave a comment directly on his blog

(Niall is owner of the Irish Voice newspaper in NY and brother of FG Louth TD Fergus)