Misguided Blame on Video Games in the Wake of Tragedy Continues...
In the aftermath of the assassination attempt at a rally for President Donald Trump, the media's spotlight has once again (all-too-predictably) mistakenly fallen on video games as the culprit, specifically targeting Steam this time.
It's that familiar narrative where video games are scapegoated for acts of violence, no different than blaming someone for simply just wearing a baseball cap. Remember when that activist lawyer Jack Thompson tried to stop Grand Theft Auto?
Recent reports from FoxNews have pointed fingers at Steam, suggesting that the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks could have been influenced by a specific game on the platform involving presidential assassinations called Mr. President!.
Let's take a quick look at who these authors of the article are:
Rebecca Rosenberg obtained her master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. In addition to that, she worked as a national correspondent for the New York Post prior to going over to Fox News.
Jacqui Heinrich is a three-time Emmy-award winning reporter serving as a White House Correspondent for FOX News Channel. She's also a podcast host for FOX News Audio. Heinrich joined the network in 2018 as a general assignment reporter based in New York. Heinrich attended the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs and worked as an intern for the United States Congress, MSNBC, and WRC-TV, the local NBC affiliate.
So it would seem they have all the pedegree of real journalists, complete with creating a false narrative and running with completely fake news for clicks...
By this pretzel logic, the shooter could have also been inspired to assassinate President Trump by being addicted to playing Hello Kitty and Sanrio Friends Racing and seen a cloud while driving that looks like a bullet. I mean.. WTF is this even? At the end of the day, this is not news, it is a fictional story made up to draw eyeballs on their "news".
Their ridiculous leap leads to conclusions that are not only baseless—given there is no evidence Crooks played the game—but it also highlights a broader issue: the media's continued push for trying so hard to link video games to violent behavior without any actual substantive proof.
Further down in their article, they finally reveal their embarrassingly misleading statement:
The Steam platform offers more than 100,000 games, including the assassination game Mr. President!, but there is no evidence Crooks played it.
...But even without any evidence, their gross narrative persisted. They WANT people to be angry at the video game industry:
The game's protagonist, Dick "Rock-Hard" Johnson – "the best bodyguard money can buy" – is sworn to protect "the most hated presidential candidate of all time Ronald Rump," the game's description reads.
Steam, a platform with a vast library of games ranging from educational to entertainment, isn't any more responsible for violence by a crazy person than a bookstore would be for selling crime novels.
...Yet, the narrative persists, undeterred by decades of research debunking the myth that video games somehow incite real-world violence. These studies consistently find no significant correlation between video games and aggressive behavior in players.
The misrepresentation by the media fails to address the true complexities behind such acts of violence, which are often a product of multiple factors including obvious mental health issues, societal pressures, and potentially sometimes even personal grievances. By wrongly choosing to focus on video games, the media diverts attention from more pertinent issues such as the effectiveness of security measures at high-profile events, the enforcement of existing laws, and the need for comprehensive mental health support. Put simply, its a pathetic 'gotcha' card that a 'journo' pulls out when they have no idea what they're talking about - to use it for their strawman argument.
Here's what we know that's actually true... Crooks had an Instagram account. He also did indeed have a Steam account, where he posted the following message:
"July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds."
He also had a Discord account, but as of now, not much is known about that beyond what Discord themselves commented:
"It was rarely utilized, has not been used in months, and we have found no evidence that it was used to plan this incident, promote violence or discuss his political views"
A spokesperson said for Discord said. They continued:
"Discord strongly condemns violence of any kind, including political violence, and we will continue to coordinate closely with law enforcement."
Various news outlets are also confirming that he had a Discord account and that it had been deactivated by Discord themselves after the assassination attempt that wounded Trump, killed a rally attendee, and critically injured two others.
...But back to the main issue here - we have to challenge outdated stereotypes and instead, push for a narrative that seeks to understand the root causes of violence without resorting to scapegoating. Diving deeper into the motivations behind such tragic events, it's clear that simplifying the narrative to point fingers at video games is not only misleading but also harmful, as it stigmatizes millions of us who responsibly enjoy gaming without adverse effects. As Jessica Bowman points out in her tweet, it looks like there was a lot more going on with this shooter than a 'video game' addiction...
The insistence on blaming video games in the face of any violent incident involving young individuals is an obsolete tactic that overlooks the real issues at hand. It's time for the media to move beyond this misguided blame and contribute to a more informed and constructive dialogue that accurately addresses the complexities of modern-day violence.
~Smash
It's rather pathetic on how stupid the media out there really is because how can they honestly choose to blame video games as a culprit to this situation ? I think it's Absolutely irresponsible to do this because they know Damn well that this isn't the case at all. The obviously don't want to admit or accept the Real truth