Read just about any message board and you are likely to hear how the mainstream media haters gamers and gaming culture.  This is especially true around the release of a news-worthy title such as Grand Theft Auto or Manhunt.  It even seems to make sense.

After all, the mainstream media is filled with critical articles and opinion pieces on video games.  Video game are a new medium, and frankly they scare those entrenched in the world of old media.  Video games, simply put, are the enemy of the mainstream media.  Except, that isn’t true.

Many crowing about “biased” news coverage against games simply haven’t ever investigated the facts.  Why would the media go after their corporate partners?  When was the last time you saw a truly scathing piece about Disney World on ABC News?  The answer is not very recently, or at least not since Disney bought ABC several years back.

The same holds true with video games.  Yes, the mainstream media continues to report some negative stories about video games, but they do the same with movies and music.  This despite the fact that both industries are almost wholly controlled by the same news outlets reporting on them.  For example, look at the chart below.

Of course, this is just a small sampling of how news agencies are tied into the world of gaming.  Sure, these might not be the major profit generators for any of these companies yet, and some are only partial stakes, but the point is: why would they cut off their nose to spite their face?  It doesn’t follow logic.

This is, of course, to say nothing of the countless companies profiting off of video games in a multitude of other ways.  Areas such as film adaptations, game guides, licensing of music, etc. are quite the money generator for many media conglomerates.  Is it even reasonable to assume that they somehow dislike this money?

The counter-argument is then that the enemy is journalists, and not the companies they work for.  Still, they’re bound to some degree by their corporate parent, as mentioned earlier.  Beyond that, though, video games have made major strides in the mainstream media compared to twenty years ago.  Do you recall many reviews running in newspapers upon the release of Super Mario Bros. 2?  Yet, today, many newspapers run reviews and news stories about video games in their entertainment sections alongside movies and television.  Maybe the treatment isn’t yet quite equal to other media, but baby steps are getting it there.

What might be interesting long term to look at is the distribution of negative articles across the media.  For example, sure Manhunt 2 generates negative press, but did it generate nearly as much as films such as Natural Born Killers or The Passion of the Christ did in regards to violence?  Plenty of million sellers such as Madden Football and Super Smash Bros. generate no negative press at all.  The idea that the most violent of games generate negative press just like films and music seems appropriate, and counter-intuitive to cries of bias.

All of this is not to say there isn’t some uneasiness from the established media toward the (relatively) young upstart.  Instead, it is to dispel the myth of the vast media conspiracy.  The mainstream media doesn’t always understand games or gamers, but it is hardly actively trying to be their enemy.  Which is why the gaming community should be very careful how it responds, because theirs is a task of education and not war.

Related posts:

1. Why the media loves to hate on gamers
2. Sly reporter infuriates gamers by questioning their literacy
3. Video games and sex mix like oil and water
4. Video game movie news roundup: Max Payne, Prince of Persia and Second Skin
5. We now return to GameSpot’s downward spiral, already in progress