I don’t mind that the CBS Evening News featured a story on the latest ultra-violent video game from RockStar. I don’t mind that what they aired could scarcely be considered news. Has RockStar really produced something scandalous? Isn’t that what they do? Is there really anybody in the country who cares anything about videogames and yet has not heard of the likes of Grand Theft Auto?
Of course companies like RockStar thrive on this kind of publicity. Games such as GTA and the new one (which I’m not going to name because I don’t intend to help them plug it) don’t look very good. Even in their ads – where presumably they have their best foot forward – the graphics look boxy, very last-gen. But hey, if you can’t make a game good enough to sell itself, why not move product by tweaking some noses and cashing in on the resulting publicity?
And the nose tweaked this time belonged to Katie Couric. At the end of the story we were all treated to her Church-Lady-esque snipping about how she couldn’t see why anybody would buy such an awful game. Because you said not to, Katie. Precisely because you and people like you say they’re bad. And for almost no other reason.
Obviously the purpose behind bemoaning the passage of the legacy of Murrow and Cronkite faded away sometime during Dan Rather’s tenure. But surely such obvious side-handed hucksterism ought to be beneath anyone who puts the word “journalist” on a business card.
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