Editorials
A Course for Concern?
September 23, 2011, Author: James Joell-Ireland, 5 Comments
Independent traffic and revenue aggregator, The Games Tribe, recently announced it is to offer a training course which will teach you to become a ‘professional games journalist’. The day-long course will offer you insights into best practice, interview skills, dealing with PR firms as well as training on how to build reviews, news and features. It all sounds wonderfully alluring but is the course really about bringing forward a new breed of gaming hacks?
The Games Tribe was founded by Steve Grigg, Nick Ellis and Rich Keith. Three ex-industry veterans who have a unequivocal combined experience, and a quick ramble through the archives and you will see that the credentials do not lie. These are experienced players within the games journalism field, so from the outlay you can be assured that the course will offer you a degree of insight. The course did have an early bird special, whereby you could attend at £49.00, which, for a day course on training course rates, is an absolute bargain. Unfortunately this period has now ended but the course is still available for £99.00. Electronic Arts will be sponsoring the event and hosting it within their Guildford offices; something that will most certainly attract those looking for added value within the below-tonne asking price.
When looking at what the course is offering, there is most certainly subject areas that make the course worthwhile. Dealing with PR firms is something of which you won’t find in any journalist degree and the keynote by Keith Stuart should offer an insight into not only the veil behind the perceived glamour of games journalism, but also what the big publishing houses are looking for within their publications today.
Does the ‘learn to be a professional games journalist’ course actually teach you exactly what you need to know to be successful in the industry? Of course not. This course is the equivalent of a wine tasting evening, merely a smorgasboard to whet the appetite, with tiny morsels of what is contained within the job role of a games journalist. The course doesn’t cover pitching for freelance work, syntax, literacy and other staple points that are required in the industry. In view of this course containing no government or journalism accredited qualification, I have another theory about why this course is being offered, and that is to play into the hands of The Games Tribe themselves.
As I stated earlier, TGT is a traffic and revenue portal, which takes on percentage-based advertising campaigns on websites that it is partnered with. Currently TGT is partnered with around 15-16 different websites. By running this course, it will raise the credentials of this traffic program and could certainly lead to exponential growth in partners each year this course runs. If this training course was generated solely to give insight on how to become a professional games journalist, then it would simply be a complete juxtaposition of where TGT are putting themself in the marketplace.
The reality is that unless you have a big self-sustaining audience, the route into working for a mainstream powerhouse is a long and arduous one, especially for those without university degrees. What do you do in the interim period? Set up a website, or write for an independent website, and the creators behind TGT know that. Increasing the access to an insight into games journalism will breed more independent sites and later TGT’s site network will take advantage of that.
Perhaps the biggest supporting factor of my theory is behind one of the businesses founders Steve Grigg. He should know better than anyone that Future Publishing are making decent advertising revenue by letting their own community and independent websites bring the content to them.
N4G.com, a website which is ranked on Alexa 2,428 worldwide, generates thousands in advertising revenue for minimal effort. TGT runs in the same scope by aggregating the news of independent sites, whilst actually running advertising campaigns within each partnered website. Imagine TGT’s network in 18 months time going from 15-16 sites to potentially over one hundred; suddenly you are making a very profitable business with a minimal outlay.
Let’s also not forget that mainstream media are digging themselves a grave. Mega corporations are being less and less trusted by the day as people wake up to manipulation, bias and propaganda. A big exponent of these type of media tactics are News Corp, owners of IGN.com. TGT are aware of this sway in public opinion and are looking to capitalize and wrap up the independent marketplace by becoming the Google Ads of alternative game media. In order for it to be successful standards of practice to be put in place for readers to stay put.
With the business mind added to the equation, this course makes absolute sense for a network such as TGT to host. It makes revenue from the course itself and will make future revenue in the long game.
Hopefully this article gives you an insight into the potential course, at the end of the day there is money to be made and TGT are a business. We cannot deny the course is interesting and the venue being at EA’s offices in Guildford is even tempting for the likes of myself, but don’t think that this course is going to rapidly accelerate your way into the mega powerhouses or print magazines. You will have to get your hands dirty and fight your way through what is an already over-saturated marketplace, that or think one step ahead and develop your own brand of delivery and niche within the industry and make money from your upstart.
Tagged ceo, course, course for concern, mega corporations, nick ellis, paid to play, professional, professional games journalism, rich keith, seo, steve grigg, the games tribe, upstart, video game
Trent said:
Firstly I think online advertising is a load of bollocks and I cannot believe anyone makes any money from it. I've NEVER clicked an add for anything but free MMOs which I've 99% of the time not signed up to.
Secondly, nice piece there dude. I was suspicious of this course the moment I became aware of it. I think it's the perfect way for hacks who couldn't write a fucking postcard if they tried to rock around saying 'I'm a games journalist, I've got a blog check me out here's my card'. This in turn with oversaturate OUR market with jobsworth twats who have no idea how to write and think that brown-nosing PR people and scrounging review copies constitutes journalism, with the review only the end result. Fuckers. I hope no-one goes on it.
Oh and this is one of the reasons I don't call myself a journalist; these days its more about who you know and how many proverbial hand jobs you're prepared to give out at networking events than the actual quality of writing. Just my view.
Posted on: September 23 9:16 PM || Report || Reply
JamesIreland said:
Your absolutely right about the whole, what you know who you know element. There is a seedy underlayer which is hidden in clear view about the way some present themselves in this industry.
Posted on: September 23 9:52 PM || Report || Reply
Trent said:
To be honest the entire media industry is like that. You can be the best filmmaker in the history of mankind but if you don't know anyone you'll never get any notice. Very few people break through using things like Youtube. Most of the time it's years of kissing arse before you get a crack at the big job. Shame I don't like the taste of arse; maybe I'd actually have a media job by now lol.
Posted on: September 23 10:00 PM || Report || Reply
tgt_rich said:
Hi James,
Thanks for the piece on the training courses we're running. There are obviously a lot of things that we agree on - and some we don't. You're certainly welcome to your opinion about both the content of the courses and the motivations behind them.
However your basic premise that we're using the courses to tout for sites (and I'm not sure where the '15-16 websites' number comes from: we have more that 60 Partner sites that we're working with) just isn't right, nor is the implication that we're trying to be the Google Ads of games (I'm pretty sure Google Ads is the Google Ads of games).
While one of things we do is aid our Partners to get advertising money, everything we do - including that - comes from fulfilling our mission to champion independent games sites and journalism.
Advertising revenue fits into that because it's the most straightforward way to make money from your site. We make no apology for trying to help sites make some money for their hard work as part of what we do. Apart from anything else I hope they might end up in a position where they can pay for good quality games journalism.
Which is what the course is about. We will be sharing our experience and knowledge with people starting out or currently working for nothing to improve the words they write and highlight the correct practices if they want to be able to write for paying sites. I have many year's experience (and training courses) under my belt and have personally trained scores of new starters at Future Publishing, added to which the course will be lead by a senior lecturer in journalism and, as you mention, we will also have the Guardian's Keith Stuart on hand and other guests.
Finally if you or any of your writers or readers would like to attend the course for that £49.99 price tag then you're more than welcome - just contact us through http://corporate.thegamestribe.com. While a day's course won't make you the finished article we believe that we can put you on the right track.
All the best,
Rich
Posted on: September 26 11:45 AM || Report || Reply
Andy said:
Hi Rich, thanks for getting in contact with us to present your side of things, and taking the time to sign up.
I think that this article came out far more positive than I thought it would have, from when we were originally discussing the idea as an editorial.
We were looking at the fact that EA were backing the scheme, and asked the question as to whether it was partly Publishers looking to have more of an influence on the next generation of Game's Journalists, in a market that's all about the Metacritic score.
Whether that's far from the truth or not, it's a side of the coin we felt might have been worth putting forward. In the end, such is the way with our site and the freedom we offer our writers, James went a different route, and came forward with a different, compelling view, which I think asked a valid question. If something seems too good to be true, it usually is.
No one is denying any site's right to make money, least not yours (you don't do this for free, obviously). I think, in the end, he was quite respectful in regards to the three of you, what you can offer people, the site itself and your pedigree in the industry.
With that, it was nice to e-meet you, and hope you continue to drop by.
Posted on: September 26 1:07 PM || Report || Reply