GameJournoPros

GameJournoPros is a now-defunct private Google Group consisting of 150 writers, bloggers, and editors from various game news sites and media outlets. The mailing list, group members, and various leaked email conversations have sparked online discussion in the video game community's ongoing Gamergate controversy.

The group was directly inspired by JournoList, according to its creator, Ars Technica Senior Editor Kyle Orland. The existence of GameJournoPros and its leaked email conversations play a major part in the case made by #GamerGate that the game media industry is guilty of collusion, corruption and attempted censorship.

Creation and Discovery
The GameJournoPros mailing list was created on 31 August 2010 by Orland, and was active until sometime in late September 2014. The group played host to around 150 writers and editors from multiple competing gaming websites, such as Polygon, Kotaku, Destructoid, The Escapist, Game Informer, Ars Technica, QVC, PCWorld, and IGN, along with several freelance writers.

The group first came to public attention on September 17, 2014 when Breitbart writer Milo Yiannopoulos revealed the existence of the GameJournoPros mailing list in an article that published pieces of an email conversation conducted by various gaming journalists regarding the Zoe Quinn Scandal. It was revealed in the email conversation that Kyle Orland suggested using the scandal "as an excuse to give more attention to [Quinn's] work" and Polygon's Ben Kuchera encouraged fellow journalists to avoid talking about the issue and to censor discussions about it occurring on their site forums. Yiannopoulos later leaked the rest of the email conversation on his personal website, where it was revealed that Wired's Andrew Groen suggested the group collaborate on a public letter of support for Quinn signed by "as many sympathetic journalists/developers" as possible, and Ben Kuchera and GamePolitics editor James Fudge unsuccessfully attempted to convince The Escapist Editor-in Chief Greg Tito to censor his site's forum discussion regarding Quinn. Although many of the email conversation's participants were in support of censoring the topic completely, some journalists such as Game Informer's Mike Futter and The Escapist's Greg Tito disagreed with or expressed concern over calls for censorship and using their public reach and influence to promote Quinn.

The exposé of the GameJournoPros mailing list shortly after the barrage of the Gamers Are Dead articles all but confirmed suspicions that gaming journalism was full of collusion and pushed narratives.

Continued Leaks
In the following month, three other email conversations were leaked detailing the group's response to the initial leak, the relationship between journalists and PR and the group's closing shortly after the initial leak.

Following the first email leak, the GameJournoPros member list was leaked by one of its members, Cinema Blend writer Willliam Usher. In an interview with APGNation, Usher stated his reasons for leaking the list and supporting GamerGate, that "[s]ome of the members on that list actively used their platform to support and propagate a wide-sweeping media narrative based on lies and factual inaccuracies."

Usher, writing for Cinema Blend and his own blog, also discussed GameJournoPros role in blacklisting game developer and former Destructoid writer Allistair Pinsof. Multiple game news sites reported that indie game developer Chloe Sagal was crowdfunding a surgery on Indiegogo that she stated was to remove shrapnel from her body. Following Indiegogo's pulling of the campaign for reasons of fraud, Sagal streamed her attempted suicide via Twitch. Shortly after Sagal's suicide attempt, Pinsof revealed on Twitter that Sagal's fraudulent campaign was not funding a surgery for shrapnel removal, but rather a sex reassignment.

Members of GameJournoPros weighed in when questioned by Yanier "Niero" Gonzalez, owner of Destructoid, on whether or not to fire Pinsof. Kyle Orland, freelance writer Jonathan Deesing, and senior Polygon reviewer Danielle Riendeau all suggested that Pinsof should be fired.

After Pinsof was fired, Destructoid Editor-in-Chief Dale North, in an email to GameJournoPros, advised the group to not respond to communication attempts from "a certain problem child." Orland identified the "problem child" as "ALLISTAIR ALLISTAIR ALLISTAIR."

On November 4, 2014, Usher revealed four more unlisted members of the GameJournoPros on Twitter.

On January 8, 2015, A Plant Posted an updated list of the GameJournoPros adding in members not on the initial Breitbart list. On January 10, A Plant posted a list of all the job changes various members had undergone since the initial leak.

Response from GameJournoPros Members
The authenticity of the leak was verified by group creator, Ars Technica Senior Editor Kyle Orland, who apologized for making statements in the conversation that he "soon came to regret." Orland denied the allegations of collusion, stating that GameJournoPros "has never had litmus tests, partisan slant, or other viewpoint-based membership criteria," and that "Ars Technica management did not know of the existence of the list."

Polygon Editor-in-Chief Christopher Grant, also addressing concerns of writer collusion and media bias in an editor's letter, stated that discussions regarding ethics and disclosures were common on the group, and that most of the group's members often disagreed with one another.

GamePolitics.com editor James Fudge has stated that he neither regrets his participation in GameJournoPros nor will apologize for any of his private statements "that were made public by former members that lack integrity, decency, loyalty, or honor."

Destructoid Editor-in-Chief Dale North announced his resignation October 21, citing disagreement with the actions of Destructoid management, along with his discomfort attaching his name to Destructoid staff. North did not specify GamerGate or GameJournoPros in his resignation.

Relation To GamerGate
The original email leak published by Milo Yiannopoulos serves as evidence that permanent game media staff members and freelance reporters would discuss what news to cover, how exactly to cover a news topic and what tone to take with reporting on the news. However, neither the implications of GameJournoPros, nor its relevance in Gamergate's complaints regarding video game journalism, have been adequately addressed by the majority of the industry or mainstream media outlets.

The members of GameJournoPros did not act as a cohesive unit in all cases. Members would voice disagreements with others on certain issues and voice concerns regarding how other members handled a issue, according to Usher. While not everyone in GameJournoPros was in complete agreement with what every other member did, it is worth noting that most of the time such objections went unheeded or were dismissed.

List of Members

 * Adam Rosenberg - Digital Trends
 * Alex Navarro - Giant Bomb
 * Alex Rubens - IGN, G4TV, PCWorld, Official Xbox Magazine, Polygon, @Gamer Magazine, Games Radar, Joystiq, Kotaku, Destructoid, Tech Hive, Game Informer
 * Alexa Ray Corriea - Gamespot, Polygon
 * Andrew Fitch - the Geekbox podcast
 * Andrew Groen - Penny Arcade (ex?), Wired
 * Andrew Hayward - StuffTV, TechHive, IGN, Macworld, Maclife, Jostiq
 * Andrew A Cunningham - Ars Technica
 * Andy Chalk - PC Gamer
 * Andy Eddy - author, “Game Over Press Start To Continue”
 * Annette Cardwell - Yahoo! Shine, Wikia
 * Anthony John Agnello - Joystiq, The AV Club, Edge, Fast Company
 * Ben Kuchera - Editor at Polygon
 * Ben Gilbert - Senior Editor for Engadget
 * Billy Shibley - Social/Community for @DestinytheGame (Activision), former Editorial Manager at Machinima
 * Blake Snow - http://blakesnow.com/
 * Brad Gallaway - Managing Editor of GameCritics.com
 * Bradley Shoemaker - Giant Bomb
 * Brandon Cackowski-Schnell - The Escapist
 * Brandon Justice - Ex Gamefan, IGN, SEGA, EA & EGM
 * Brandon Boyer - Chairman, Indie Games Festival
 * Brian Leahy - Previously Shacknews & G4tv
 * Britton Peele - Entertainment Editor Dallas Morning News
 * Casey Johnston - Freelance, Ars Technica
 * Charles Husemann - Development Manager at Recource Gaming Nexus EIC
 * Chris Dahlen - Game dev and writer
 * Chris Plante - Senior Editor at The Verge
 * Christopher Grant - Editor-in-Chief at Polygon
 * Conrad Zimmerman - Podcaster, freelance writer/critic
 * Cory Banks - Former Managing Editor at PC Gamer
 * Dale North - (Now Former) Editor-in-Chief at Destructoid
 * Dale (Laura Dale) - Indiehaven.com, Kotaku UK, Telegraph, Guardian, MYM, MCM
 * Dalibor Dimovski - Gamedev
 * Dan (Dan Stapleton) - IGN, PC Gamer
 * Dan Crabtree - GamerNode
 * Daniel Starkey (Twitter deleted, cached) - Eurogamer, GameSpot, Joystiq, Kotaku
 * Daniel Feit - Wired
 * Danielle - Senior Reviewer at Polygon
 * Davetach - Polygon
 * David Thomas - Youtuber “Game Dave” (I believe.)
 * Dead Yet Living - Unsure
 * Dean Takahashi - Lead Writer for Games Beat at Venture Beat
 * Dennis Scimeca - The Daily Dot, formerly Ars Technica, NPR, GamesBeat, Polygon, Kotaku, The Escapist, Gamasutra
 * Devin Connors - The Escapist (past Tom’s Guide, GameFrontCom)
 * Devin Kofsky - Social Media Celebrity Cruise? Freelance I think in the past.
 * Dtoid Niero - Destructoid
 * Erick Eckstein - Esquire Network, G4TV,
 * Erick Frederikesn / piratesyar - Technobuffalo
 * Garnett Lee - FireTV, Shout Engine
 * Garrett Martin - Paste games editor, Boston Herald game critic
 * George Wiedman - Super Bunnyhop (youtube)
 * Greg Tito - The Escapist
 * Gregory Gay - The Escapist
 * Hamza Aziz - Formerly Destructoid
 * Harold Goldberg - New York Times, NPR, books
 * Heidi Kemps - Freelance, Joystiq
 * Issac Ferderspiel - IndieHaven, former Game Informer Intern
 * Jake Gaskill - G4TV
 * James Fudge - Editor GamePolitics.com
 * Jarred Newman
 * Jason Fanelli - Arcade Sushi, GamesRadar, PocketGamer, Gamernode
 * Jason Leyanna (no twitter I found) - Realm of Gaming
 * Jason Schreier - Kotaku Australia, Wired
 * Jason Venter - Honest Gamers Editor in Chief, IGN, Gamespot, GamesRadar, Joystiq
 * Jason Wilson
 * Jaz Rignall
 * Jeffery Matulef - US News Editor at Eurogamer (Former AV Club, G4TV, Paste, Joystiq, OXM
 * Jeremy Zoss - Encore Software, Merril Corporation, Zoss Media, Giant Bomb
 * Joe Osborne - Reviews Editor TechRadar
 * John Funk - The Escapist
 * Jonathan Deesing - Joystiq
 * Jorge Jimenez - Blogger?, Staff Writer Dualshockers
 * Joseph Leray - TouchArcade, Destructioid
 * Josh Tolentino - Destructioid, Japanator
 * Julian Murdoch - Comic Vine?
 * Justin McElroy - Polygon
 * Kate Cox - Consumerist, GameCritics.com
 * Kevin Kelly - Wired
 * Kyle Orland - Senior Gaming Editor for Ars Technica
 * Kyle Horner - Developer at WB Games/Turbine, Writer, Editor
 * Leah B. Jackson - Riot Games eSports web content coordinator (formerly IGN, G4)
 * Leigh Alexander - Gamasutra, The Guardian
 * Logan Westbrook - The Escapist
 * Lou Kesten - Associated Press
 * Ludwig Kietzmann - Joystiq Editor-in-chief
 * Maddy Myers - PasteGames Assitant Editor
 * Mark Burnham - Online Media Manager QuinStreet (Formerly EIC at Game Front)
 * Matt Clark - Previously 1Up, MTV, currently IGN
 * Matt Hawkins - Creator of the FORT90ZINE
 * Matthew Kumar - Freelance, CEO of MKULTRAgames, publisher of exp.?
 * Matt Matthews - Gamasutra
 * Matthew Sakey - Freelance, NYU game center
 * Meghan - IGN
 * Michael McWhertor - Deputy News Editor at Polygon
 * Mike Futter - News Editor at Game Informer
 * Michael Rougeau - Kotaku, Gamespot, TechRadar, more
 * Mike Wehner - Daily Dot, USA Today, Yahoo
 * Michael Zenke - Video Games Writer currently working on The Elder Scrolls Online
 * Mitch Dyer - Editor at IGN
 * Chris Morris - CNBC, Variety, Coast to Coast Radio
 * N'Gai Croal - Newsweek (previous)
 * N. Evan Van Zelfden - Venture Beat, The Escapist, Slate
 * Nathan Grayson - Kotaku
 * Nathan Meunier - Freelance, Podcaster
 * Nick Chester - Harmonix
 * Patrick Klepek - Kotaku, Giant Bomb
 * Phillip Kollar - Polygon, Game Informer
 * Pikoeri Egm - EGM, GameFan, X-Play
 * Richard Clark - Gamechurch
 * Richard Mitchell - Joystiq
 * Rob Zacny - PCGamesN, The Escapist, Polygon, IGN
 * Rod “Slasher” Breslau - Past (OnGamers)
 * Rollin Bishop - Contributing Editor at LaughingSquid, formerly Geeokosystem, The Mary Sue
 * Ron Whitaker - Managing Editor GameFront
 * RPad.TV - Rpad.tv
 * Russ Pitts - Previously Polygon, TechTV, currently Take This charity
 * Ryan Kuo - Kill Screen
 * Ryan Scott - Editorial Director at Geekbox Media
 * Ryan Smith - The AV Club
 * Ryanflemingpdx - Gaming and Cinema Editor Digital Trends (former)
 * Sam Machovech - Tech Reporter Ars Technica
 * Samit Sarkar - Polygon, formerly at Destructoid
 * Sarah LeBoeuf - The Escapist
 * Savethekitsune (Cassandra Khaw, I believe.) - Verge
 * Scott Nichols - Freelance Critic, Digital Spy
 * Scott Steinberg - Speaker & Futurist, Writes for Inc, Mashable (Past?), Huffpo
 * Sebastian Haley - Venture Beat
 * Shoe (Dan “Shoe” Hsu) - PlayStation, VentureBeat
 * Simon Ferrari - Adjunct NYU GameCenter, IndieCade, Different Games, IndieFund Dev outreach team
 * Sinan Kubba - Joystiq
 * Sincerelysophie (Sophie/Sam Prell) - Joystiq, G4, Destructoid
 * Stephen Johnson - Freelance
 * Steven Kent (Didn’t find Twitter) - Book Writer, freelance - lots of places in the past
 * Steve Haske - Wired, solo work via Medium, Complex Mag
 * Stu Horvath - Unwinnable.
 * Susan Arendt - Managing Editor at Joystiq
 * Taylor Cocke - Web content coordinator at Riot Games/Lolesports, but has written at IGN, Edge, and others.
 * The Gamegoat - Youtuber
 * Tim Stevens - Editor at Large, CNet
 * Timothy J. Seppala - Engadget contributing editor.
 * Tina Amini - Deputy Editor at Kotaku
 * Tom Curtis - “Digital Marketing Guy” at Ubisoft, formerly at Gamasutra
 * Tom Chick - quartertothree.com
 * Will Tuttle - Sr. Communications Manager for Xbox and Editorial Overseer of Xbox Wire, IGN (past)
 * William O'Neal - TechRadar
 * William Usher - Assistant Editor Gaming Blend
 * Max Parker - Columnist for Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 * Xav De Matos - Joystiq
 * Yannick LeJacq - Motherboard (VICE), Kotaku UK
 * Zack Stern - PCWorld, Macworld, others