I’ve been taking it slow this week due to illness, but I had to jump up today and write a couple things. The first thing I wanted to touch upon was the Boston Magazine feature on Eron Gjoni and Zoe Quinn from a day or two ago. I was going to let it slide due to my illness, but the more I re-read it, the sicker it makes me. That’s hard to do, considering how under the weather I’ve been lately. But somehow Five Guys and her media enablers manage to get it done. First off, go read the insanely terrible article if you haven’t already. It really is a doozy. I’m having trouble understanding why Eron keep sitting down with reporters, to be honest with you. Because I can’t think of one that’s treated him fairly throughout this entire ordeal:
Gjoni can be relentless that way. And in others. He maintains incessant eye contact from behind a tangle of dark, wavy hair. He is intensely focused. Just ask Zoe Quinn, the object of his unwanted obsession…
Gjoni has brown eyes and a skeletal 6-foot-1 frame, and speaks in a matter-of-fact, deadpan monotone. His friends describe him as “extremely methodical,” “a very intellectual person with semi-decent people skills,” insular, rational, and almost preternaturally calm. Benjamin Hitov, a childhood friend and fellow programmer, told me he once beat Gjoni in the ninja fighter game Dead or Alive “100 times in a row, and he didn’t change his expression once.”
In case you can’t tell, the reporter is trying to make Eron look like a psychopath. There are several more examples like this throughout the piece, and Zoe piles on plenty of times as well. I just don’t see the benefit of talking to these scumbags, but I guess that’s easier said than done. It’s hard to turn down requests like these, and reporters work overtime to try to gain your trust.
Here’s Eron, in his own words, reacting to the interview (PART 1, PART 2):
The article quotes me of course (sparingly), but, often in contexts that allow the author to pretend I’ve said or done the exact opposite of what I’ve actually said or done.
Now I know what you’re thinking. “Why the hell would you still trust journalists”
And the answer to that is: I don’t, really. I’ve already learned to approach with caution.
The problem, is that they always seem more willing to misrepresent their intentions and integrity than I am to presume malice on either their part, or their editor’s. And I mean that in the functional sense. The more cautious I become, the more they misrepresent…
Of note in the previous post, was that Zak seemed to think the first date between me and my ex happened at Veggie Galaxy. But he also thought the first date happened at a dive bar.
We might perhaps excuse this as shoddy writing.
Or maybe a subtle attempt at dramatizing my choice of venue for the interview, so as to play up the “obsession” angle (remember, part 1 made the article into a drinking game on this premise).
It looks like this was a setup from the beginning, although it was a well-concealed one. I think this should be a lesson for any other prominent figures in the cause looking to talk to the media. Unless you have some type of final cut, or creative input, then it will always be a fail talking to these duplicitous bastards. Plus, there’s no telling what lies Zoe told them off the record. The only way to win is not to play. Sure, they’ll still make you look bad, but at least they won’t have you helping them.
None of this is to blame Eron. As I said at the start, they likely would have gotten me too. But just hold this out as a lesson for the future. The media wants to make us look bad at all costs, and lying is not something they’re ashamed of doing. Do interviews with the friendly, pro-GamerGate press. Mainstream journos can’t be trusted in any way, shape, or form.
