Lowenstein: The press made Jack Thompson, covering him was a "cop out"

Ex-ESA boss Doug Lowenstein's written to Kotaku to claim that about-to-be-disbarred legal sensation Jack Thompson was partially a monster creation of the games media, accusing the specialist press of reporting on him despite the fact "he was a charlatan who wholly lacked credibility".

"The game press had a schizoid relationship with Thompson," said Lowenstein. "He was the person they loved to vilify and the person they could not get enough of. Time and again, the game press — and mainstream press — would ask ESA to engage with, or respond to Thompson's latest excess. The media knew well that he was a charlatan who wholly lacked credibility.

"But hey, they said, he was news and could not be ignored. That was a cop out. It gave Thompson a platform he might not have had for as long as he did."

Lowenstein went on to say Kotaku's coverage of Thompson gave legs to mainstream stories, branding Thompson an "extremist."

"As it takes delight in his apparent demise, it is a good time to contemplate whether the game media itself has matured," he said.

"You help set the tone for mainstream media coverage and if you validate extremists you give license to the less informed to follow your lead."

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