Ambushed On Donahue About Violent Video Games

from the when-did-you-stop-beating-your-wife? dept

A somewhat fascinating read over at Salon by Henry Jenkins, the director of the comparative media studies program at MIT, and a well known writer/researcher/speaker on the video game industry and how it effects kids. It seems that the new Donahue show invited him on and proceeded to ambush him on the air by painting him as a moronic researcher safely in the pocket of the gaming industry who only wants to harm our children by forcing violent video games on them. Jenkins talks about what happened on the show (where they appear to ask him "when did you stop beating your wife?" type questions) as well as what he wishes he had said. While the ambush stuff is an interesting way to tell the story, the really good stuff is in his response to those who are complaining about children playing violent video games. The points he makes are intelligent and show someone who is really thinking about how to deal with a complex issue, rather than someone who is responding in a kneejerk fashion. It's too bad that we live in a kneejerk society that needs bumper sticker solutions instead of people who actually think.

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