GameSpot defends itself, says advertiser pressure didn't cause editor's firing

Tell me if you believe this yarn, said by CNET Networks Entertainment vice president of programming Greg Brannan:

Neither CNET Networks nor GameSpot has ever allowed its advertising business to affect its editorial content. The accusations in the media that it has done so are unsubstantiated and untrue. Jeff’s departure stemmed from internal reasons unrelated to any buyer of advertising on GameSpot.

Yeah, me neither. You dug yourself quite a hole, GameSpot.

It’s probably too late for GameSpot to save face here. The story broke last week and had an entire weekend’s worth of speculation and rumor ruin any chance of the company setting the record straight. It’s already in the minds of gamers and others who followed the story that GameSpot bowed to pressure. Like, read this one random comment:

I have been visiting gamespot for years now. I once thought is was the best, most reliable site around for reviews and content. With this one event, gamespot has shown that advertisers are more important then staffers that have been their for over a decade. This will be the last time i ever come to gamespot. This site has turned into a big commerical for “high profile games” and is no longer a site where serious objective journalism can be found.

That’s the kind of sentiment GameSpot now faces. Oh well, maybe it should have defended itself earlier or not try to hide behind Legal.

Gerstmann, GameSpot part ways [GameSpot via bit-tech]