Valleywag
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Stephen Colvin
Gamespot editor's nemesis on way out of CNET
At CNET, the heads keep rolling, nearly a year after Gamespot editorial director Jeff Gerstmann was sacked. Stephen Colvin, an executive who oversaw Gamespot, is out of the company, a tipster tells us. Gerstmann's firing came after a negative review of an advertiser's game, which made him a cause célèbre among gamers. What Gerstmann's fans will say: That Colvin and other suits are getting what they deserved for ruining the CNET-owned gaming site's editorial credibility. Josh Larson left CNET, now owned by CBS, in April. Colvin, a former magazine executive who was Larson's boss, joined CNET a year ago, shortly before the Gerstmann incident. His exit comes as CBS rejiggers CNET's generous benefits, our tipster says: More » -
jeff gerstmann
Ousted CNET editor and CEO return for vengeance
GiantBomb is a new gamer blog edited by Jeff Gerstmann, the CNET GameSpot editor fired last November over his negative — or "unprofessional," if you want the official version — reviews of an advertiser's game. GiantBomb is part of WhiskyMedia, a small startup run by Shelby Bonnie, who himself was forced out as CNET's CEO two years ago, after an investigation fingered him in a stock-options backdating scandal. Bonnie told Bits that he's not out to build another CNET: “Our goal is we want to remain less than 10 people." Valleywag's publisher used to talk like that, too. -
exits
Jeff Gerstman's executioner at CNET replaced by ex-Yahoo Shawn Rose
Who'll be the new man atop CNET's GameSpot come April 10, replacing newly fired Josh Larson? According to a tipster, it's Shawn Rose, currently at CNET's TV.com. And the description of Rose's leadership abilities don't exactly inspire confidence.the terrible irony, shawn rose should never have been hired to run tv in the first place, as he talks and talks his way into all kinds of crazy shit. now another suit replaces the suit they booted, and this one's wearing purple. he literally got nothing done at Y, and to date, has done nothing at CNET
Ineffectual managers from Yahoo? I've never heard the like! Anyone who's worked with Rose, let us know how accurate the description is. There's much more after the jump. More » -
media
Gasp! CNET values sales over editorial
News flash: CNET's "ad sales team carries more weight than the editorial team," writes Alex Petraglia, editor of Primotech, a videogames-news site. In the wake of Gamespot editorial director Jeff Gerstmann's firing, should anyone find this shocking? No. But in an attempt to jump on the Gerstmann story, Petraglia has posted a long-winded rant about a new ad campaign plastered all over the Gamespot website. More » -
rumormonger
CNET sells editorial placement, needs to raise rates
Buried news in a long post by Amadeo Plaza at Gamer 2.0: CNET allegedly sells placement of articles, not ads, on the front door of its GameSpot site for about $3,500 per week. He's not saying advertisers can buy an article — rather, they can pay to have an article placed prominently on the front door. Imagine the makers of Cloverfield paying The New York Times to move its review of the movie to page A1 and you get the idea. I'm supposed to opine here about the evil advent of adverjournalism and its corrupting influence on my so-called career. But at $500 a day to override CNET's editorial judgement, my overwhelming reaction is that GameSpot is selling itself too cheap. -
rumormonger
Fired GameSpot editor to start new site
Jeff Gerstmann, the ten-year CNET GameSpot veteran believed to have been fired for negative reviews of advertisers' games, is now rumored to be starting another site with GameSpot founder Vince Broady. 1UP editor Sam Kennedy buried the news in an endless thumbsucker about the influence of advertisers on game reviews. No word on how the new site's ad-dollars-versus-reviews-quality policies will be any different from the rest. Jeff? -
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jeff gerstmann
Newsweek on Gerstmanngate -- the 100-word version
Mom, make him stop! As hopefully the last 3,500 words on Gerstmanngate, Newsweek's N'Gai Croal ponders What It All Means. Look, if you want to spend a half hour revisiting The Godfather, Almost Famous, Wu-Tang Clan and George Bernard friggin Shaw in the post-Metacritic era all applied to some game reviewer getting fired, knock yourself out with Croal's meandering rumination on why GameSpot editorial director Jeff Gerstmann was fired shortly after publishing a negative review of an advertiser's game. For the rest of us, I've trimmed the references to Faust. More » -
jeff gerstmann
Game reviewer affirms advertisers run the show
Was CNET's firing of GameSpot editor Jeff Gerstmann a bizarre special case? Isn't it hard to believe Gerstmann was axed to appease an advertiser? Not at all, says a game reviewer who claims he's been pushed out by advertisers twice. More » -
jeff gerstmann
CNET tells all, reveals nothing on GameSpot firing
GameSpot, the CNET-owned videogame-reviews site, has officially acknowledged the canning of 11-year site veteran Jeff Gerstmann in a sappy farewell posted early this morning. The site begs off confirming whether Gerstmann's departure had anything to do with his critical review of an advertiser's game, repeating the party line that "his exit was not a result of pressure from an advertiser." CNET vice president Greg Brannan treads the same tone as CNET's official release: "Neither CNET Networks nor GameSpot has ever allowed its advertising business to affect its editorial content. The accusations in the media that it has done so are unsubstantiated and untrue. Jeff's departure stemmed from internal reasons unrelated to any buyer of advertising on GameSpot." There's a simple way to prove that, Greg: State those reasons.
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harvey smith
Honesty will get you nowhere
If there's one lesson to be drawn from the CNET fiasco known as Gerstmangate, it's that honesty isn't always the best policy. Jeff Gerstmann's controversial departure from CNET's GameSpot, allegedly for his critical take on an advertiser's product, overshadowed another videogame industry exit. Game developer Harvey Smith, known for his role in the critically acclaimed Eidos Interactive franchise Deus Ex, has left Midway after giving what one executive referred to as his "public resignation" at the Montreal International Games Summit. Smith referred to his latest project, Blacksite: Area 51, as "fucked up" when explaining its poor reception. He said he wasn't excited about Area 51 and "with a year to go, the game was disastrously off rails." Far too honest an assessment for an industry which makes its living off fantasies.
jeff gerstmann
San Francisco, 11:50 PM
Mon Dec 1
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