Another "blame it on D&D" story

[JohnRTroy]

On the very page with this, they had an ad for the Fiesta Fantasy RPG.

If it's Google-based ads, I can understand this.

The key thing for me is, I'm not really angry at the insinuation about D&D, but rather I find it annoying, much like I found it annoying when reporters would use the "Pow, Bam!" terms when talking about comic books. It shows an ignorance of popular culture, and while I have some expectation of that when a new fad appears, after a few decades pass, not so much.

 

[1Mac]

Is it okay for me to think the article and reporting are awful and shameful, and still kind of like the Herald?

I'm bemused to see so much hate here for the Herald. Dismissing the entire paper for one really bad article: that's like maligning an entire enterprise for the terrible behavior of some of its participants. Yes, yes, the editors were responsible for the story in a way that Gary Gygax wasn't responsible for Irving Pulling. My point is that some in their indignation are extrapolating a trend from a single data point.

As for the Globe "trying to be objective": the stories I could tell!

 

[Weregrognard]

You know what they say: "no such thing as bad publicity"!

D&D has its "bad boy" image back

 

[CarlZog]

...or that the average World of Warcraft player is likely to become an axe murderer.

"I guess it's just a matter of time before someone goes on a rampage shouting 'Leeroy Jenkins!' " -- quoted from comments on io9.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Is it okay for me to think the article and reporting are awful and shameful, and still kind of like the Herald?

I'm bemused to see so much hate here for the Herald. Dismissing the entire paper for one really bad article: that's like maligning an entire enterprise for the terrible behavior of some of its participants. Yes, yes, the editors were responsible for the story in a way that Gary Gygax wasn't responsible for Irving Pulling. My point is that some in their indignation are extrapolating a trend from a single data point.

As for the Globe "trying to be objective": the stories I could tell!

I can only speak for myself, but I am basing my opinion of the Herald on my experience reading the Herald over the past several years. It is only my opinion, but I think the writing is bad, the journalism is biased, and editing is terrible. Just buy a copy and compare it to a reputable paper. The Herald is basically a tabloid. Most of it's news articles engage in POV journalism. True, I agree with you the Globe is not perfect, but my point is it makes an effort to be objective and perform real journalism. In both cases I am not talking about the editorial pages either. Thinking about the regular news articles. Personally I don't care what point of view a paper expresses on it's editorial page. But the editorial page shouldn't make inroads into the rest of the paper.

 

[1Mac]

I'm not a Bay Stater, so I should really defer to the natives, but I've heard enough bad stuff about the Globe's reporting* to wonder if the Herald's detractors are really being fair. I have an inkling that if a story like this appeared in the Globe, or the AP, we'd be hearing less about the reporter's partisan bias and more about the general sensationalist media culture. In fact I seem to recall that this exact scenario occurred recently, but my search-fu is weak, so I have no examples.

*e.g.: Try googling the headline "Reporter takes stumble chasing Mass. candidate." The Globe itself seems to have scrubbed the article from its archives, but you will find plenty of grist for my point.

 

[Mallus]

I, for one, applaud the journalist for doing her part to return American journalism to it's roots: sensationalistic, muckraking, badly-written, poorly though-out and most assuredly non-professional.

Then again, I can be a little cynical sometimes...

 

[Bedrockgames]

I'm not a Bay Stater, so I should really defer to the natives, but I've heard enough bad stuff about the Globe's reporting* to wonder if the Herald's detractors are really being fair. I have an inkling that if a story like this appeared in the Globe, or the AP, we'd be hearing less about the reporter's partisan bias and more about the general sensationalist media culture. In fact I seem to recall that this exact scenario occurred recently, but my search-fu is weak, so I have no examples.

*e.g.: Try googling the headline "Reporter takes stumble chasing Mass. candidate." The Globe itself seems to have scrubbed the article from its archives, but you will find plenty of grist for my point.

I can only speak for myself. Being from Mass, I feel the Globe has slipped up on occasion, but it does adhere to some basic principles of good journalism, and you basically get good information from it. On the other hand, the Herald tends to be sensationalist and less accurate than the globe. I don't take issue with it being a conservative paper. You can have a paper with a conservative angle and still engage in solid journalism. But the Herald doesn't. Not only is it highly POV, the writing is simply bad. It is one thing to look into a possible connection between D&D and violence, another thing entirely to refer to it as an "egghead escape". This sort of thing is common practice at the Herald.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I wonder how many obese people played CandyLand as a kid.

How about those bank executives? Bet they played Monopoly.

It's all Hasbro's fault!

 

[Quantum]

Leroy Jenkins?! LEROY JERNKINS!

I can just see it now!

The Terminator in the two movies yelling LERRRRRROOOOOOOOY JENKINS as he guns down all those cops!

Hey, this has potential to insert the shouting of Leroy Jenkins in famous movie scenes!