You and I are in agreement about almost everything, man. I guess I've gone off the reservation somewhat with this GamerGate thing, but I haven't lost it, really. Not yet anyway. 
Edit: Speaking of going off the reservation:
http://blogjob.com/oneangrygamer/2014/10/gamergate-nowhere-on-my-site-does-it-say-we-are-journalists-says-destructoid-owner/
You can follow the hyperlink bread crumbs down the rabbit hole as far as you care to go. I'm not going to elaborate, except to say that this shit really is happening. The longer it gets swept under the rug, the more it festers.
I'm just going to chime in here and say that the Game Journos Pros thing is a giant biggest circle jerk witch hunt that has yet to produce a smoking gun, this included. Pretty much everyone who is talking about this doesn't really quite understand what illegal collusion entails and seems to think that people involved in an industry aren't allowed to talk to to each other and associate. Fun exercise, take any profession or even professional role, type that into Google, and then type in "association" or "society" after it. Wow. A lot more formal AND out in the open than this mailing list.
As someone involved in a few associations regarding my industry and a few mailing lists of personal contacts with these associations, I find the reaction to this amazing. Editors of Kotaku and Destructoid talk to each other? How fucking surprising. You know what I talk to with other project managers from other companies in my industry? Who the fuck to avoid or what you do in a given situation. Mind blowing.
I remember the Pinsof story pretty well and the guy dug his own professional grave as soon as he tweeted and outed someone. And I even totally agree that THAT whole situation is kind of bullshit. It was a scam and the people who were buying into it had a right to know. But, and here's the thing, he works for a company that relies on advertisers and has to try it's best to not rock the boat. That company came under a lot of flack for that and when faced with the decision, they decided that cutting him was the best option. I don't necessarily think that that part is bullshit - the bullshit part in my mind is that that they'd receive a lot of flack for it in the first place. But fair enough, I don't make the rules on these things and that happens, and as his boss said - he has an obligation to protect his brand - punishing Pinsof was a way of doing it. So he was put on probation or temporary leave, but he just couldn't stop tweeting about it - rocking the boat further. So he was fired. Kind of a shit situation for the guy but I'm sure numbers were crunched and the shit storm he brewed among certain special interest groups was deemed as more detrimental than letting this particular employee go.
But you know that part above where I said he dug his own professional grave as soon as he tweeted and outed that trans person? I fucking lied. No one would give a shit about that in six months. It's a controversial topic, but everyone gets it - special interest groups rattled pitchforks, he was let go to quell them. The company saved face. He really dug his own grave the days after when he just wouldn't shut the fuck up and got in a very public bitching match with his previous employer and his previous co-workers. Game Journo Pros aside, you know why he can't get a job? Because the second someone Googles his name, which is pretty much the second the short list of applicants is made, the first thing that comes up is that he loves airing dirty laundry. Even if I don't have any dirty laundry I don't fucking want him. Now, take into account that the places he's applying were probably running the story when he was in the middle of this dramatic shit storm. No one is touching him. Rightly so - there's about a thousand other people applying to write about videogames for a living that are probably just as talented and don't have the risk of bringing all that baggage with them.
What is very telling is his conversation with Shu, who I somehow remember from reading EGM in the late 90's and not since at all. Basically, (and I'm half cut and can't remember if I just saw this on your post or a tweet that it was linked to) he's looking for a job and asking Shu, who's telling him he can't help him out. No biggie, but the screen shot is pretty obviously (unless I'm completely wrong - which happens an amazing amount of the time) at the tale end of a conversation where the guy was denied and then brought up how Shu hired someone else who was controversially fired from one of the big player blogs. Shu's response was "Yeah, well, I knew Gary and had worked with him. There wasn't any risk there and it was different. Best of luck finding something else, man!" And that was used as Pinsof's example of how he's been blacklisted. Someone else was hired because they knew someone.
And that's the thing - he hasn't been blacklisted in anything close to the traditional sense - he's just proven himself to be undesirable very publicly. Getting back to Game Journo Pro, the smoking gun here is literally (It's not, I'm paraphrasing everything after the first sentence) some guy saying "Hey, can't tell you what to do, but I can tell you what you shouldn't do...this guy is contacting people looking for a job. Think back six months or use Google." That's it. That isn't collusion, that's pretty much an email or conversation I have every third week and then we laugh about some idiot in our industry. THAT'S THE SMOKING GUN. This fucking guy who released nothing but tweet after tweet of emails he had with his co-workers and boss regarding his suspension, which then lead to his termination, which then led to more public tweets and hissy fits is looking for a job at your organization. Think about it. Oh, and also, a special interest group known for shitting bricks and mobilizing hates him. Specifically. Just maybe think about it.
I'm not a lawyer, and I'm certainly not a lawyer in Florida, but in my pursuit of two different degrees I've done a fair amount of work and case studies regarding market manipulation. Specifically price setting and illegal collusion. My professors weren't rockstars or judges, but I like to think that I have a better grasp than most when it comes to what exactly illegal collusion consists of, even in this case. A casual email group of industry professionals is not a conspiracy and "Hey, I can't tell you what to do, BUT....." is not illegal collusion. As powerful as
"Wrongful combinations against workers.—If two or more persons shall agree, conspire, combine or confederate together for the purpose of preventing any person from procuring work in any firm or corporation, or to cause the discharge of any person from work in such firm or corporation; "
sounds, the real truth is that "conspire, combine, or confederate" has a deeper implication of willing parties in pre-existing illegal action. So, the way I interpret this to mean is the same as how you interpret pretty much any law dealing with illegal collusion in circumstances like this, which is to mean with the presence of duress, undue influence, promotion, or offered compensation. Well, that and the semi-colon really leads way to the meat of the law they referenced. Because realistically, in any common law system (of which Florida is one), no judge can say that it's illegal for two or more people to get together and say X shouldn't have Y job. Because, you know, that's how every judge who isn't singularly appointed (as well as board executives, and other executives, and ...well, a shitload of people) are granted their jobs. Ever sat through an interview with two or more managers and not been hired? You have a fucking case!
To put it simply, in order to prove that someone is blacklisting in my jurisdiction, you have to prove that they're forcing you to make that decision in some way. Not that a bunch of like-minded individuals are causally sitting around and discussing why no one in their right mind should hire this notorious and now publicly known individual who has shown he has difficulty getting along with co-workers and management. Beyond that, due to the nature of journalism in general, you'd be hard pressed to prove Gary Webb was blacklisted, let alone some kid from Destructoid.
Again, it's a shitty situation for that guy. I don't feel he did anything wrong from the start - it's how he handled it in the aftermath that fucked him over. That said, I can't blame his boss for giving him flack or eventually letting him go, it's just a combination of the politics and the nature of the industry that he's in. He should have known that.
What I do find a little bit ridiculous is that this is brought up a year fucking later as evidence of conspiracy in the industry and that this guy has gotten right back on board. Good job buddy, I'm sure this will open some doors for you. Go back to school. Seriously. Because even if you want to switch sectors of journalism no one will want you.
But all of this is kind of splitting fucking hairs hairs of a sort. The real issue here is that HASHTAG gamersgate is so concerned with finding conspiracy that's it has turned into another kind of witch hunt. If you read any of my posts you know I have pretty much zero respect for Games Journalists as a profession and even I think this is retarded.
And you know what it is? I don't get it. Who cares? Cobra, I get what you're saying, and I respect you for saying it because we absolutely need people like you to get angry or just fed up with other people trying to impose their way of life and their ethical value on everyone through mob rule and guilt exploitation. It's a counterbalance to what they put out there and it's awesome. At the same time, I can't get into it because I come across these sites and just can't stop focusing on the flaws.
I find that in life, no matter what you're doing, you will find an endless amount of people who have a problem with it for whatever reason. It's gory, it's sexist, it's homophobic, no, it's homoerotic, no I DON'T KNOW, I JUST DON'T LIKE IT. The trick is just to tell them to fuck of, and I appreciate that you guys are doing that, because I'm waaaaay too caught up in my own shit to do it. Just don't get too carried away, or else you start sounding like them a bit.
