My battle with the Toronto Sun

Hey guys,

As some of you may or may not know, there was a story on kotaku.com which I challenged The Sun on a cover that was printed.


I knew I was going to going through a up hill battle, but to be honest I'm getting tired of the media pointing towards an easy out.

My battle started when I emailed The Sun's editor. During this email conversation we had one thing was clear to me, they could careless on one persons view was and they refused to give me any kind of straight answer to me at all.

As I noticed this wasn't going anywhere, I moved up to contacting someone in head office, after forwarding my emails to her, I received a call from Jim Jennings, Head-Chief-Editor of The Toronto Sun. This quickly turned into childish conversation with him.

Never the less after trying to get past none sense with Mr. Jennings I got him to admit one thing to me, before blowing me off. The only reason why the cover was ever printed was to sell, it was just Eye Candy since that copy of The Sun sold 14 some on odd thousand copies in Toronto (as he stated proudly). After asking him since when did telling the REAL news include lying to make his pockets larger, he blew me off.


So I ask the ASSEMbler community please email, please use one or the other if bounces or use both

marilyn.frgueroa@tor.sunpub.com
readership@tor.sunpub.com


Tell them you are tired of this type of garbage pressed, just to sell.

Also if you wish, call there head office (416) 947-2487

[RyanGamerGoneGrazy]

I am behind you on this, then again you knew that skitzo.

For an editor who prides himself on his PHD, his paper sure seems to have quite alot of objective content in it

Ryan

[cahaz]

i dont really understand what's going on mate. Is this another "Oh, let's basj video games!" type of thing where they talked about a need for speed game in a crashed car that wasnt really there?

if its that, i hate how they think video games influence everyone and every thing, Whi saud they got interested in street racing AFTER they played this game? Why it couldnt be that they buyed the game BECAUSE they ALREADY liked street racing?

[ASSEMbler]

As sent:

"Greetings.

I find your coverage to be disappointing. I suppose it brings sales, but irresponsible journalism like this shows the limitations of the SUN.

Please aim higher than mediocrity."

Sorry I supose my case is abit blury.

They pretty much pointed the finger at video games, since a copy of need for speed was found in one of the drivers cars.
When I confronted Jim with the question, ''So you are telling me I could speed down the street get pulled over, and flash a copy of Need for Speed, the crime would be pardoned?'' Since this is what you are trying to make it seem, or is ''they are under the influence of video games?'' Jim didn't care for those comments at all.

[madhatter256]

So, The Toronto Sun, elected to have the title simply because the cops found a copy of a racing game in the backseat... Of course the paper would sell with such said title because the average newspaper reader only reads the title and then believes it... There is no factual link that the cause of the speeding was induced by that single videogame. The cop simply told them that they mostlikely bought from the store, so they never played it to begin with, so how in the world would it influence them to "kill"?

Is Toronto Sun a tabloid or a newspaper?

Oh and is Jim Jennings related to the late Peter Jennings (who passed away few months ago from lung cancer and was a famous news anchor at ABC that had tremendous amount of respect and integrity and who was also canadian)? If he is related to him, then I'm ashamed he would stoop to such standards..

I would like to know if he is before I shoot him an email and pass this along to members of the IGDA community..

Like I said guys, email them and tell THEM what you think, since mr.Jennings could careless about one persons view, lets force feed him our views

[WolverineDK]

Hmmm should I write a Danish email, and tell him in very kind words, that his newspaper, should stop making tabloid news ?

every email counts, seems everyone can point the finger and blame videos for everything under the sun, but no one takes a stand against this. Every email counts

Originally Posted by madhatter256

So, The Toronto Sun, elected to have the title simply because the cops found a copy of a racing game in the backseat... Of course the paper would sell with such said title because the average newspaper reader only reads the title and then believes it... There is no factual link that the cause of the speeding was induced by that single videogame. The cop simply told them that they mostlikely bought from the store, so they never played it to begin with, so how in the world would it influence them to "kill"?

Is Toronto Sun a tabloid or a newspaper?

Oh and is Jim Jennings related to the late Peter Jennings (who passed away few months ago from lung cancer and was a famous news anchor at ABC that had tremendous amount of respect and integrity and who was also canadian)? If he is related to him, then I'm ashamed he would stoop to such standards..

I would like to know if he is before I shoot him an email and pass this along to members of the IGDA community..

I doubt he related to the late Peter Jennings, atlest that man told real news. After I did a google on Jim, there is no real connection at all between the two

[WolverineDK]

Email sent in Danish, he he ;)

[MexicanGritzTaster]

Email sent:

"Your wife would like to know if there is anything you would like for her to pickup on the way home. She is busy at the moment, so she asked me to email you."

Originally Posted by MexicanGritzTaster

Email sent:

"Your wife would like to know if there is anything you would like for her to pickup on the way home. She is busy at the moment, so she asked me to email you."

I would rather not have emails sent like that, since I would like them to look at the matter in a serious note.

Hey guys, apprently the first email I posted is no longer valid. use this email, thanks alot of all your support.

readership@tor.sunpub.com

Sent my email in. Very tasteful from someone in the industry...

As i side note, i hate it when video games try to kill me. I knew it was bad when I found Mario 64 reaching for a shotgun, and it was such a nice little game that wouldn't harm a fly...

I've never had videogames try to kill me, but... well, Pac-Man hits me sometimes. He never means it though, it's always my fault anyways. He always says he's sorry afterwards, but that's after the crystal meth hits, and I wonder if he really means it.

_skitzo_: Madhatter asked a question that I'm also curious about. Is the Sun a legitimate newspaper? The cover makes it look like a US tabloid rag, something along the lines of the National Enquirer or (my personal favorite) the Weekly World News.

ALSO: Isn't it ironic that the headline "DID NEED FOR SPEED KILL?" sits right above a car advertisement utilizing a checkered flag and the phrase, "The Excitement Starts Now!" And they're so quick to blame a game?

[RyanGamerGoneGrazy]

GSL, yes the toronto sun is a legitt newspaper, although its somewhat turning tabloid....

Ryan

[mairsil]

"Couldn't care less", it's COULDN'T care less as in could + not. If a person "could" care less, then it implies that they care at least enough to be able to care less. If they "couldn't" care less, then they don't care at all. [\PSA]

Ahem, anyway. As much as I agree that the newspaper overstepped any reasonable moral bounds, the fact that it is getting all of this attention just proves that they were right by publishing that cover. They only care about selling papers and this, sadly, just gives them free publicity.

[Hawanja]

Is Toronto Sun a tabloid or a newspaper?

Looks like a tabloid to me.

I sent them this email:

Dear editor:

Honestly I have never read your newspaper. But by glancing at the cover of a recent issue that somehow implies that a copy of a video game caused an 18 year old man to engage in a high speed chase, I made several assumptions of how the article is written:

1. The first paragraph details the crime.
2. The second paragraph points out a copy of the offending game was found in the car.
3. The third paragraph makes some mention about the content of the video game, at least detailing the high speed chases in the game.
4. Somewhere in the article a cop or psycologist is quoted as saying something to the effect that high speed chases are becoming more common due to the popularity of such games.
5. There may be a few lines from someone from the gaming industry, although this is highly doubtful. If there is segments from such an interview it's been cut to the effect of "These types of games make us a lot of money."

How did I know all this, without even reading the article? Becasue it's the same format that all such newstories use when they invent stories to sell papers. Replace "Need for Speed" with any number of malicous devices, drugs, pornography, violent television, and the article reads the same. This is because the story is what we call out here in the real world, "Bullshit."

Buy hey, bullshit can be entertaining sometimes. So let me give you an idea for the next time you people decide to make up a story:

"Al Queda hording XBox 360s to create missile controlling supercomputer."

It could be all about how Ossama is secretly buying up 360 consoles to gut thier insides to create a supercompter to control a stolen Russian ICBM to blow up Washington with looted Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Total bullshit, but I bet you'd sell a ton of papers.

Oh wait, somebody already used that one, back in 2000: http://ps2.ign.com/articles/089/089251p1.html

Have fun making up news for your Mickey Mouse newspaper. If you need more ideas for some fresh bullshit I charge $25 an hour.

-Mark

I of course spellchecked it before sending :)

The Sun is a real newpaper, I wouldnt make this much of a uprise over a petty tabloid