My so-called double life

While the majority of my writing at Clay Today is dedicated to Clay County issues and happenings, a portion of my writing never makes it to your Thursday paper.

Instead, they are blasted to the interweb and are published by Twinfinite.com. There are some companies big enough to have a dedicated office building, but for the most part, these companies, like Twinfinite, are simply sites that writers from around the world publish their work on. In my instance, I write here while communicating with editors from Miami, the UK and even Singapore.

When I obtained a journalism degree, I did so with the intention to one day make it in the video game coverage industry. Fear not, though, I’m still yours for the foreseeable future and if I didn’t make it as a video game journalist, I’d be perfectly happy doing what I do now.

It’s important work and it’s necessary work. I think it’s often lost on people what the goal of a newspaper like Clay Today is. We’re not here to appeal to any specific group. We’re here to leave you informed. We’re watchdogs of the greater powers, the powers that otherwise are, for the most part, left unchecked.

There’s a reason our President can’t keep the names of the some of the world’s most notable newspapers out of his mouth or off his Twitter feed and that’s because he knows they’re knocking at his door.

I digress, though. Back to video game journalism. I recently had the opportunity to take my career to the next level when I was asked by Twinfinite to attend an event in San Francisco.

One of the world’s biggest video game companies, Ubisoft, flew me out to San Francisco, put me up in a hotel for two nights and paid for my expenses so that I could attend a preview event where I’d play eight hours of their newest game, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Sounds incredible, right?

Not only was it an awesome opportunity to do something I loved, it was the first time that I truly felt like I had broken into the video game industry.

I wasn’t asking to write about Ubisoft’s video game – they asked me to write about it. And after my trip, that’s exactly what I did. I wrote about what I liked, what I loved, what I hated and anything else I wanted.

The best part is that despite me having written words about the game that Ubisoft undoubtedly disliked (as well as ones I’m sure they loved), they’ll never call it fake news. They understand that just because they don’t like something I wrote, doesn’t mean it’s fake news and that’s because fake news is a term that should be used for just that, news that is fake (rather than whatever your TV box or favorite politician is telling you).

At the end of the day, that’s the most tantalizing prospect of video game journalism. It’s a respected industry with individuals who understand the purpose of journalists. It knows my job isn’t to suck up to it or anyone; it’s to inform the reader about upcoming games, company practices, news and more. In doing so, I must talk about not only the good, but the bad. The best part? So long as it’s honest and factual, it’ll never be called fake news.

Maybe that train of thought is something to ponder in Clay County?