Into the Future: The State of Philippine eSports Journalism
eSports? Like basketball?
So much can be said about eSports or competitive gaming — from the bad effects of computer gaming down to its roots of addiction, or worse, someone’s death — mostly negatives. Perhaps the bleak image of eSports is linked with the publicity created by media.
But, who’s to blame, really?
On Feb. 27, 2014, a Dota player from the Philippines killed his playmate over “account disputes”. The following week, another killing incident linked to the game happened. While these do have the novelty or oddity of news, the media gatekeepers tend to overlook the fact that behind those news, there’s actually a budding industry — eSports.
It has been a decade or more since the rise of Philippine eSports; it was in 2004 when the first competitive Filipino Dota team was formed, Mineski. Along with the struggles of eSports to be recognized as a legitimate sport, eSports journalism has yet to bloom. As Lee-Wright, Phillips & Witzscge (2012) said in “Changing Journalism”, “Journalism has always been a field in flux and we do not envisage it will become a homogeneous field in the future.”
The emergence of new media technologies, specifically the internet, has paved way to a myriad of outlets in different fields, including eSports and journalism. The so-called “journalism” in the eSports industry, be it in the Philippines or in other countries, is internet-dependent, with news coming from various gaming organizations and personalities being covered through the said medium. There’s a great potentiality for the growth of eSports journalism in the country.
However, eSports journalism in general lacks authenticity and craftsmanship. For the past few years, “eSports journalists” in the scene are usually passionate, die-hard fans and writers who are willing to sacrifice their time to produce “news-y” articles. The lack of veteran journalists, or even novice reporters, in the scene could be a result of a lack of interest in the industry and the low amount of potential income. Also, these writers seem to lack journalistic skills and values — from form to depth and content. In this case, the presence of a journalist or authority would greatly save the writing department of news outlets. eSports needs an authority to oversee and polish every article that gets into the headlines.
In brief, what the eSports scene needs right now are: the right persons (journalists in this case together with a governing body), the right resources (support from established institutions and organizations across different fields) and the right time for maturity.
The recent partnership between one of the most read news outlet in the country, Inquirer.net, and the first governing eSport body in the country Philippine eSports Organization (PeSO), shows the viability of eSports as a marketable industry and an avenue for advertisers and newspaper outfits.
Traditional media (print and broadcast) highly depends on advertisers for survivability. In previous years, eSports was not seen as a possible prospect in terms of this, but the interest Inquirer has shown and their willingness to invest their time and resources in eSports shows the scene’s potentiality as a dynamic industry. Both parties then benefit: the eSports industry gets the proper exposure through the right medium while Inquirer receives more web hits from the Filipino gamers’ demographic.
Internationally, another notable news outfit which invests their time in eSports is the New York Times (NYT). For instance, their craftsmanship and interest in covering various aspects of eSports was shown when they interviewed one of Dota 2’s most recognizable players, Evil Genius’ captain Peter “PPD” Dager. NYT also published a news article about the League of Legends (LoL) world championship. These articles showed depth and comprehensiveness; tackling the ins-and-outs of eSports while remaining accessible to the general public. They were then followed by other sound bites and videos about their respective games.
PeSO is a great force to push for the betterment of eSports journalism in the country. In this digital age, the competition in the journalism field is tighter than ever before. Yes, it needs a lot of money and resources to invest in the right people and yes, it’s a matter of sacrifice toward the scene’s growth. But there is no need to hurry. What is needed is to get the right person in the right position, then everything will follow.
While the Philippine eSports scene may have some of the right people and resources to take it to the next level, it will still take some time for the industry to achieve mainstream acceptance — including the journalistic discipline that follows it. In the meantime, those of us waiting on the wings have front seat access to the unfolding of an eSports Journalism Revolution.
References:
Lee-Wright, P., Phillips, A., & Witschge, T. (2012). Changing Journalism.
___________________DOTA game eyed behind boy’s murder. (2014, February 27). Retrieved October 10, 2014, from https://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/nat…nd-boys-murder
Padua, R. (2014, March 9). Inistorbo sa Dota apo tinodas ang lola. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from https://www.philstar.com/psn-metro/20…nodas-ang-lola
Wingfield, N. (2014, August 30). E-Sports, Video Gamers Draw Real Crowds and Big Money. Retrieved September 1, 2014, from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/te…mers.html?_r=0
Wingfield, N. (2014, June 25). League of Legends Sets Game Championship for Korean Stadium. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/0…ward=relbias:r
Personal analyses of news articles by various eSports websites
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