IGN's Casamassina responds to conflict of interest claims
Video Game Media Watch has a rather incendiary post up tonight "revealing" that IGN Nintendo editor-in-chief Matt Casamassina and Golin Harris Vice President Edie Kissko are married. This might not seem like a big deal, until you consider that Golin Harris handles public relations for Nintendo (and Kissko works on the Nintendo account). This isn't precisely a "breaking" story ... the marriage has been well known in some corners of the industry for a while. Still, isn't this the kind of thing that Casamassina and/or IGN should disclose to readers who might be worried about such a seemingly obvious conflict of interest?Casamassina doesn't think so. In an e-mail to Joystiq, he confirmed that he and Kissko have been married for several years, though he says he does "prefer to keep my wife and kids out of the public spotlight." Despite the marriage, Casamassina said that both he and Kissko know how to keep their home lives and work lives separate. "Nintendo and IGN / FOX have been aware of our relationship since we first started dating," he said. "We're professionals. Both of us have signed strict confidentiality agreements with our respective employers and, incidentally, we leave what happens on the job at our home's front door."
Furthermore, Casamassina argues that readers can judge for themselves whether his personal relationship affects his writing. "The original article makes the suggestion that my marriage to Edie violates the trust of IGN's dedicated readership, but I think my body of work speaks for itself," he said. "Over the years, I have remained one of Nintendo's biggest fans and harshest critics and have also developed hundreds of reliable of sources within the industry, none of them Edie." (Kissko and a Golin Harris representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment. We'll update you if and when they do.)
While readers can indeed decide for themselves whether or not Casamassina is overly nice or harsh to Nintendo in his work (or gets more insider scoops than the average reporter), most had no reason to doubt his independence before now. Though his marriage to Kissko wasn't exactly a secret, it was far from well known to IGN's readers -- even some of us insiders at Joystiq were surprised by the revelation. As a general rule, if a situation could cause even the perception of impropriety, a journalist should disclose it.
Regardless, now that the information is "out there," so to speak, will it affect the way you read one of the industry's most visible Nintendo journalists? Let us know in the comments.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
i_hate_mtv @ Dec 19th 2007 10:40PM
Oh God, this is turning into high school.
I can see it now, a couple years down the road and there will be features on 'the hottest gaming couple to break up this year'.
Razorlution @ Dec 19th 2007 10:41PM
Dear god, leave these people alone, their lives are private and thats that. What does it matter who they work for, and who's business is it of ours??
copa @ Dec 19th 2007 10:43PM
Exactly. Shane Bettenhausen has an intimate relationship with Jack Tretton, but that has never affected the substance of his reporting.
peeweejd @ Dec 20th 2007 7:50AM
:: What does it matter who they work for, and who's business is it of ours??
It's called a conflict of interests. Lets say you get into a car accident with a woman and get hurt. You take her to court and find out that the judge is the woman's husband.
The judge is supposed to be fair and impartial, but you could never be sure because his wife is involved.
The _ethical_ and _professional_ thing to do in cases like this is the judge should disclose to all parties that his wife is involved, or if he wants to keep things private he should just step down and cite a conflict of interest.
Did you ever see in professional journalism when Time magazine does an article on AOL or somethign and they disclose in the article that Time is owns AOL?
It is fine for these two people to be married, but to be professional, every one of his reviews of Nintendo products should have a sentence in it stating something like "for the record, Nintendo pays a portion of my mortgage". Either that or he should step aside from writing about things related to Nintendo. It is the professional thing to do and if Matt ever took an ethics class in college he should have learned this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism_ethics_and_standards#Evolution_and_purpose_of_codes_of_journalism
But then again, we are talking about IGN here and professionalism and IGN do not go together. This kind of thing just goes to prove this especially since he claims IGN knew about it.
GoldenS1104 @ Dec 19th 2007 10:42PM
I take IGN's reviews with a grain of salt anyway. I find most reviews unreliable because they give some one elses opinion, which of course differs from my own opinion. I find it's best to extract only the facts of the review to help form my opinion. For instance, if the concept of the gameplay sounds cool, I will try the game regardless of the reviewers opinion of how it plays out.
sheppy2.0 @ Dec 19th 2007 10:42PM
Non-issue. Trying desperately to care.
Seriously, haven't read IGN's opinions on anything in a while. They report the news like a copy girl at FOX.
Meanwhile, I'm wondering why this is a conflict of interest. He's dolled out harsh words when he isn't playing the role of Remora. And IGN tends to review most things on the high side anyway. Previews are often opinions of software, blah, da blah.
Frankly, I'm thinking they just want another germannsgate.
rasgueado @ Dec 19th 2007 10:45PM
Public spotlight?
copa @ Dec 19th 2007 11:02PM
Yes, his poor wife is a vice president at a PUBLIC RELATIONS firm. She can't possibly handle being mentioned in a press story.
Worst Review Ever @ Dec 19th 2007 10:50PM
Not concerned. Even if Cassamassina does have a conflict of interest he still sounds tons more intelligent expressing his opinions than "Infinitely more fun" boy. Everyone's compromised anyways. Remember Vlad Cole?
DonWii @ Dec 19th 2007 10:50PM
Nope. Don't care. I think the article is just riding on the coatails of the Gerstman(?) Gamespot fiasco.
pyro.danny @ Dec 19th 2007 10:51PM
Am I the only one who read Castlevania?
Worst Review Ever @ Dec 19th 2007 10:57PM
Was the main character that kid that loved chocolate?
Loadsy @ Dec 19th 2007 10:51PM
Leave the guy alone ya vultures! He's easily one of the most credible reviewers out there IMO and he and his wife don't need this kind of BS. I have complete confidence in Matt's reliability and I trust his reviews. I'll leave it at that.
Joshua @ Dec 19th 2007 11:07PM
Same. Matt's been the top reason I visit IGN's Nintendo channels, which are, as a result, the best parts of IGN.
I really don't see how this "hot scoop" can possibly affect anything. At all.
Savok @ Dec 20th 2007 12:09AM
This is the same Matt "Rare 3rd party!" Casamassina we're talking about it isn't it?
The man single-handedly made the Nintendo section of IGN a running joke. It was his incredible ability to be wrong about everything that helped spawn "you can't spell ignorant without IGN".
Loadsy @ Dec 20th 2007 12:28AM
Are you kidding me? I mean you are entitled to your own opinion but I would completely disagree with you. Until Matt the IGN nintendo page might as well have had tumbleweed scrolling across the screen.
Savok @ Dec 20th 2007 2:07AM
We mostly went to read his stuff so we'd have something to complain about, we'd then go a real site like Planet GameCube for actual information (before the main guy left and it all went to shit).
Loadsy @ Dec 20th 2007 2:13AM
Alright then, it seems to me that you are older than me as you actually remember the beginning of IGN and perhaps you have more experience and information on the subject at hand, therefore, I ask you this; What gaming site do YOU find to be most credible and prompt with news on gaming in general and not specifically nintendo based.
ShoryuKen @ Dec 20th 2007 2:46AM
Loadsy is in fact Matt Casamassina.
Loadsy @ Dec 20th 2007 3:23AM
Haha, ya I wish that job would be at the pinnacle of awesomeness.
Savok @ Dec 20th 2007 8:59AM
You missed a glorious day when it was announced MS bought Rare from Nintendo, after Matt bleating on for something like a year about them going 3rd party in "a few weeks". Oh the laughter that was had.
Best site these days? They're all shit, mate, just the real media.
Evil Avatar might still be good, stopped going there after the management started throwing their weight around. User submitted news (though checked by editors), so not always 100% credible, but then that's what comments were for, bullshit gets posted and one merely had to check the comments.
Come to think of it, it was going down the shitter in that regard too, editors preferring to play Internet politics rather then actually fact check the news. Maybe they've recovered from that now, like I said, haven't been there in going on a year, likely there's still too many assholes in charge for my liking. Now I'm rambling.
prateeko @ Dec 19th 2007 10:58PM
Don't care. If the Ragin Cajun can be married to a huge Repiblican, why is this a problem?
Intrepyd @ Dec 19th 2007 10:58PM
Whether or not this relationship has affected his reviews, he has a problem on his hands. Any time his review skews more positively than average for a particular Nintendo product, his independence could be questioned. It's honestly hard to imagine the marriage not affecting his work. Would you really tell your wife, "Honey, I'm taking a wrecking ball to your product, just wanted to let you know."
DGornoski @ Dec 19th 2007 11:03PM
This is the author of the article. Kyle's said he'd provide my response to Matt's statements but in the mean time I just want to clarify one crucial point.
Matt said: "The original article makes the suggestion that my marriage to Edie violates the trust of IGN's dedicated readership."
That is absolutely not the case. My article specifically said repeatedly that it is IGN that violated readers' trust by not disclosing this appearance of conflicting interests to readers. I said in my piece that the two individuals involved are not to be blamed, it's IGN and GolinHarris' responsibility to have transparency with readers.
ShoryuKen @ Dec 20th 2007 2:59AM
I like your "Kyle Orland told me to do it" stance. As a fellow journalist I can tell you that that's exactly the kind of professionalism we need, in order to establish journalistic integrity. Really, crawl back under a rock. Your piece is lame and unnecessary, and garners no respect for you or your blog.
Seroth @ Dec 19th 2007 11:06PM
Matt's trashed Nintendo plenty of times. In fact, it wasn't long ago that people accused him of being a Nintendo hateboy when he expressed his dislike for the Wii's lack of HD and horsepower.
He's still doing it with the Wii's lack of voice chat and its meager 512 MB of storage.
Not to mention he expresses much dislike for games like Mario Party 8 and Mario Kart Double Dash.
See, if you didn't know anything about Casamassina, and you read my above text, then you'd probably think he hates Nintendo.
Mr Khan @ Dec 20th 2007 3:58PM
Right in one
Casamassina is a controversial figure both within the Nintendo fan community and without
Plus, he has a very deceptive way about hyping a game to high heaven, then under-reviewing
ThornedVenom @ Dec 19th 2007 11:10PM
Well, dunno: I usually trust his reviews for the bottom line, which is "good" or "not good". His scores however are debatable, but hey, how can we really score a game being a bit better than another?
tmacairjordan87 @ Dec 19th 2007 11:14PM
using galaxy as an example of him being "overly nice" is kinda not fair seeing as virtually every reviewer gave it ridiculously high scores.
vidGuy @ Dec 19th 2007 11:26PM
I couldn't care less if he were married to Reggie. He's a fanboy like the rest of us, not a corporate whore.
christmasfish @ Dec 19th 2007 11:27PM
I like Matt. I've never understood why so many people bag on him all the time.
He's easily the best Nintendo-centric journalist out there, and easily among the best video game journalists in general, in my opinion.
I don't really agree with his review scores all the time (or even most of the time, really), but I can USUALLY see where he's coming from, unlike several other reviewers and review outlets.
If I wasn't as familiar with him as I am, I'd definitely raise an eyebrow over this, but to me the man has more than proved his salt after all these years.
ZapDash @ Dec 19th 2007 11:34PM
Matt's gonna be in hot water when Perrin finds out.
Shagittarius @ Dec 20th 2007 12:23PM
Did I really just read a 'Wheel of Time' reference? That seems a little obscure even for joystiq.
ZapDash @ Dec 20th 2007 10:18PM
So obscure I didn't even know I was referencing something.
DGornoski @ Dec 19th 2007 11:35PM
Guys, one more time. It is not about Matt. He can't help who he falls in love with. IGN made the mistake by not disclosing the relationship's existance to readers so that there was clear transparency.
That's why in my original story I didn't even mention the two individuals by name. Kyle Orland made some good points as to why it's always good to name names and so I reluctantly did. My irritation is solely towards IGN and GolinHarris.
Sol @ Dec 20th 2007 12:33AM
DGornoski, however you worded it, the story you published gives readers the impression that a conflict of interest exists. Personally I do not see any bias towards Nintendo in Casamassina's work and I think IGN has no business announcing to the world who their employees are married to; that is a private matter and it should be treated as such.
ProfWho @ Dec 20th 2007 12:23AM
You know that if something happens Matt is going to lose his job or be reassigned to covering some bullshit like cell phones. Really this is a major dick move on your part.
p-diddy @ Dec 20th 2007 6:55AM
DGornoski, I understand that you think it is disingenuous for Gorrin and IGN/Fox not to disclose theis apparent conflict, but my questions is: where would you have them disclose it? At the bottom of every review casamassima writes? At the bottom of every ad that Gorrin runs for Nintendo? Should they jointly issue a press release?
I have to ask: what exactly do you think is the proper solution to the apparent problem?
-p-
Geoffrey Sperl @ Dec 19th 2007 11:54PM
It's Edie. Different name. Google it.
Geoffrey Sperl @ Dec 20th 2007 12:35AM
Irritation is something for a column in a newspaper or the end of 60 Minutes. Perhaps an opinion piece or an"editorial"... but this?
I read the original post.. and I'm not feeling it. What you wrote reads like some sort of attempt at investigative journalism ("VGMWatch.com has been able to confirm that IGN Nintendo editor Matt Casamassina is married to Golin Harris Vice President Edie Kissko."), but it fails to even be interesting aside from your insistence on defending yourself in the comments.
The relationship was not kept secret. We can all find potential conflicts of interest in our lives... do we have to disclose them all? Do our employers?
You say your issue is not about the marriage... but it clearly is. If they were just employees at IGN and Golin Harris or Nintendo meeting after work on Friday for a beer or two, you would not be so damned defensive (nor, do I think, you would care).
However, it's because of the fact that they go home to each other every night and sleep in the same bed together that you are upset and defensive. So, yes, this is about the marriage. Sure, it's easy to hide behind the disclosure bit, but you do not offer any evidence that anything inappropriate has gone on. Nothing. So, instead of contacting the parties involved and saying "Hey, do you disclose this at all? What's your company's policy about this?" you get all cloak-and-dagger and insinuate there's some sort of payola scam going on... when you have no evidence.
Since you're leveling this accusation at IGN, then I have to ask you the same question: Is what you're doing responsible journalism? Did you use this information correctly?
There's a lesson to be learned here... but it's not solely for IGN to learn.
ProfWho @ Dec 20th 2007 12:44AM
We all know what this is. It is an attempt for some small time journalist to make a name for himself in the wake of the Gamespot controversy. He really doesn't care that he is risking destroying two people's careers in the process.
Geoffrey Sperl @ Dec 20th 2007 8:13AM
You hit it right on the nose, ProfWho. ;)
gillburgasd @ Dec 20th 2007 1:10AM
this is not cool, this isnt gaming news this is a failing gaming blog attempting to destroy people's careers, a new low and a desperate attempt to "1up" kotaku and ign. matt casamassina is a great journalist and an inspiration to the gaming journalist profession.
Just_a_guy @ Dec 20th 2007 1:39AM
do I even care???? It's his life, and it has nothing to do with me!
rokerovakero @ Dec 20th 2007 1:43AM
"prefer to keep my wife and kids out of the public spotlight." ppfffff... whatever...
abu @ Dec 20th 2007 1:45AM
Casamassina? Isn't that a game on XBLA?
flameofdoom666 @ Dec 20th 2007 6:31AM
lol. Thats Carcassone. Close though :-).
Mike @ Dec 20th 2007 2:49AM
The way I see the situation. It's conflict of interest.
ssuk @ Dec 20th 2007 10:22AM
The way I see it, he's getting more action than you.
Geoffrey @ Dec 20th 2007 3:33AM
quit trying to add fuel to a fire that should not have been set in the first place, grow up and leave his personal life personal. just because he can get more scoops then yall can doesn't mean anything, except he is seen as credible by the people who gives him those exclusives. you guys try to find any reason to bash IGN, and i never figured out why. but now with articles like this, it just sounds like you're jelous.