Gamers wage war on Mass Effect basher's book, garner apology [update]

Anyone who has stared into the pitch-black eye of madness known as the Fox News Network's "coverage" of Mass Effect and its "Luke Skywalker meets 'Debbie Does Dallas'" gameplay, is probably now familiar with psychology specialist Cooper Lawrence, who laughingly admitted on the show that she had never played Mass Effect, but still assured the program's viewers of the game's vicious, child corrupting qualities.
We imagine the chuckles came to an abrupt end when Lawrence checked the Amazon ratings of her newest book, "The Cult of Perfection: Making Peace With Your Inner Overachiever," whose middling review had been torn asunder by incensed gamers -- many of whom took the time to mention that they had never actually read the book, but hated it anyways. Amazon recently took down these negative reviews -- a shame, as we're sure they'd provide more entertainment than the actual book ever could.
Lawrence has since apologized in a New York Times article, claiming she was misinformed about the game, and that she's "seen episodes of 'Lost' that are more sexually explicit." Nice work, Lawrence. You might have settled things with the gaming community, but now you've pissed off the DHARMA Initiative, who are capable of doing much more than just downvoting self-help literature.
Update: X-Play's Adam Sessler recently spoke his mind about the "Mass Stupidity" debacle -- his video comments can be viewed (and enjoyed) after the jump.










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Limezor @ Jan 26th 2008 12:36PM
She should just not talk anymore.
T3H WICKERMAN (TMNT DF) (BWF) @ Jan 26th 2008 1:00PM
I will take care of that, my shepards charm is maxed out and if I can seduce blue aliens im sure I can seduce this "Cooper" she creature. Soon she will be screaming my praises!!!
Lifted 0ne 4l9 (NDF - Fire!) @ Jan 26th 2008 1:47PM
anyone who actually trusts fox news is not an intelligent person,yes i know there is alot of dumb people out there, so to anyone reading this ifyou trust fox news smarten the fuck up asshole
playwhutyalike @ Jan 26th 2008 1:54PM
Martha@foxnews.com
Here is an email link to the show this person was on, I believe. Feel free to email demanding they retract their story or air your complaints.
Please, be civil. Don't add any fuel to the fire by being derogatory. Sorry, Limezor I had to use you to jump to the top.
Vegnagun bwf @ Jan 26th 2008 2:00PM
Does Martha have a book out right now?
stealth @ Jan 26th 2008 2:42PM
Fox news the most ignorant and bias news network in America.
Lets give 'em a round of applause!
Phillip @ Jan 26th 2008 7:49PM
@Stealth:
...riiiiiight. hehe.
hvnlysoldr @ Jan 26th 2008 10:13PM
Hey don't put an email as is! You're just inviting it to be spammed relentlessly by bots who don't know her.
Mromson @ Jan 28th 2008 10:41PM
No one forget to thumb down her new book. I certainly haven't forgotten.
Christopher @ Jan 26th 2008 12:37PM
Unacceptable.
New York City reads the Times... and is regarded as a rag by many people in this city I live in...
SHE NEEDS TO GO ON NATIONAL TELEVISION!
She is only apologizing to NY... Not the nation.
The Nation watches FoxNews.... IT DOES NOT read the NYTIMES.
JDee26 @ Jan 26th 2008 12:49PM
I don't know what city you live in, but the NYT is one of the top newspapers in the country, if not the world. Maybe you could argue that a TV appearance would make more sense since overall, newspaper circulation is in decline but I'd hardly call the Times a "rag".
Do your homework, please.
mcatrage @ Jan 26th 2008 1:03PM
You're thinking of the New York Post not the Times.
capt_carl @ Jan 26th 2008 1:04PM
So by your logic she should apologize in USA Today? How many people really read that newspaper? The New York Times is the best paper in the country.
James @ Jan 26th 2008 1:10PM
I gotta go with the research here and clearly not everyone reads the NYTimes, She has to apologize on the internet. Only then will she be forgiven if that is even fathomable.
Zach S @ Jan 26th 2008 1:11PM
A) As JDee26 said, the NY Times is a widely read publication all over the United States. I personally know a few people who get it and none of them are from New York.
B) Having such an apology in print is actually BETTER than appearing on television for it- the chance of someone catching it on the tube if, say, it was broadcast at some odd hour, is much less that them reading in the paper, I'd think, especially considering that most people I know who get the NY Times read practically every page. Also, it may be hard to get on the TV, considering Fox News certainly wouldn't have her back on just to apologize since they themselves haven't yet said sorry. Plus, I'm sure if this story DOES make it on the air again, they will quote her from the Times, effectively putting her apology on the air.
James @ Jan 26th 2008 1:17PM
Anyone can apologize in text. Hell if I could, I'd ask out chicks and break up with them and fucking order pizza and fucking buy groceries via texting. Yet that is clearly frowned upon, why? because it doesn't require a true essence of the word "meaning" It's selfless and it doesn't require any thought, you can basically plan it all out. When on video you're put on the spot, I can fuckin type all day. But facial expressions are on a totaly different level.
I WANT FULL VIDEO FOOTAGE OF HER APOLOGY!
Korova @ Jan 26th 2008 1:21PM
NYT is a "great" paper and they got the reporting straight on the story.
Minor note: Saturday is the least read edition of NYT (if this story is even in print), although Sunday is huge. So depending on when the story appears, it could be the talk of the town or a liner for a weekend painting job.
Publicists and public relations people always try to get the corrections and apologies out on Saturday, cause most people who care are either hung over or playing with their kids, instead of reading papers.
hey alex @ Jan 26th 2008 1:31PM
I don't know about anywhere else, but the New York Times is sold at Starbucks along with the local paper. And I'm in California.
But beside that publication beind widely available, it's also on their internet website, which we've seen linked to this article.
Whether or not "the nation watches Fox news" is debatable. Peronsally I get my news from ABC or CNN.
LaughingTarget @ Jan 26th 2008 1:51PM
The Times may be a respected paper in some circles, but it is not a particularly popular one. The Times only has a circulation of around 1.1 million, which isn't even a fraction of New York, let alone the nation. More people have purchased Mass Effect than the Times. Televised news is currently the most popular means of reaching people in the United States and the Internet is the best way to reach the most people in the world.
Cooper only apologized to around 1.1 million, that is hardly a dent in the population she lied to over the air.
spoo @ Jan 26th 2008 1:53PM
@Christopher,
Please enlighten us with what you consider a good newspaper. McUSA Today, NY Post, The Forum of Fargo, Reno Gazette-Journal, The Idaho Statesman?
@James,
Did you just compare a text message to an article in the NY Times? Wow...
LaughingTarget @ Jan 26th 2008 1:54PM
hey alex -
FOX News is the #1 cable news channel right now according to Neilson ratings.
Dirk Dorkelson @ Jan 26th 2008 4:43PM
@LaughingTarget,
Yeah, the circulation of the paper is 1.1 million, but the article appears on the Internet. I read it. Lots of Joystiq readers also read it, yet I have no plans to read today's NYT. I'd be willing to bet with this article being posted on Joystiq (and I'm sure other game-related sites), plus in the paper, that it will have far more eyes on it than 1.1 million. And I'm not even counting those people who just stumble into the article while browsing NYTimes.com.
Poisoned Al @ Jan 26th 2008 5:50PM
Also I can safely guess that people the read the Times don't overlap much with the people who watch Fox News.
Hell, I'd be impressed if people who watch Fox News can read period!
mike_p @ Jan 26th 2008 10:20PM
Funny, Rupert Murdoch owns the New York Post.
Probably won't get anything on this in that paper.
hey alex @ Jan 26th 2008 10:35PM
LaughingTarget, you said it yourself CABLE news. Something that not everyone has. Fox News is watched by 1.5 million people a night. Network TV, primarily where I get my news, it watched by millions more.
Luzid @ Jan 27th 2008 8:45PM
Uh, the NYT printed the outright LIES about nonexistent Iraqi WMDs parroted by Judith "I'm a fucking sorry excuse for a 'journalist'" Miller from her bush-administration mouthpiece handlers.
Yeah, it's pretty much a rag, one erroneously thought of as (wait for it) liberal.
LOL!
steve @ Jan 28th 2008 1:11AM
One problem is, vast number of Fox watchers mistrusts the NY times and considers it to be a liberal agenda driven newspaper.
Fox also has an audience far larger than NY times. I don't see this issue getting much press outside the gaming circles.
Buckshot @ Jan 28th 2008 9:08AM
The New York times is pure speculation, lies, and garbage. So yes, it's a rag. It's for those who belive they are superior or educated to have some drivel to quote BS from.
name123 @ Jan 26th 2008 12:45PM
Fox News should put a note in their title sequence:
"Based on a true story."
Vegnagun bwf @ Jan 26th 2008 1:31PM
"Biased on a true story"
Trickob @ Jan 26th 2008 5:32PM
*lawlz*
me @ Jan 26th 2008 12:50PM
You have to give her points for apologizing though. And the NYT isn't only read by New Yorkers. It's Fox News that everyone should be pissed at now for just shrugging off EA and continuing to spread bias slander. Maybe now Cooper will do some research before she makes herself a target on national television...
Ubercharged @ Jan 26th 2008 12:58PM
We shouldnt give her points for anything, its ridiculous so called professionals like her should do research before making stupid claims. She deserves whatever she has coming to her
Korova @ Jan 26th 2008 1:15PM
In NYT article she says that before the broadcast someone told her that the game is like porn, and she ran with that. Just loaded up that anti-porn diatribe and pressed enter.
The worst part about this is that Fox all of a sudden looks like an innocent party caught between truth and lie, played by evil Cooper Lawrence, when I am sure Fox came up with the idea and plucked CL out of the talking heads directory under "anti-porn diatribe and bad teeth".
Kudos to the Internet gamers who called bullshit on the whole thing. Internet hath no fury, indeed.
Thanks, guys. Proud to be part of the community.
sheppy2.0 @ Jan 26th 2008 4:50PM
The sad fact of the matter is, Cooper Lawrence, like the previous expert who foolishly claimed to be an expert in this field, was essentially handed her arguement by Fox News and ran with it. She had no exposure to the game in question aside from what she heard from Fox News. She even stated a study out of Maryland which, in case you missed it, had zero relation to her field of expertise (which begs the question, was this study handed to her by Fox News like the brain scans quoted by the last expert). And to top it all off, she promoted her manhating propaganda and even deliberately slammed her opponent with the "darling" comment. Typical tactic to people in her field, actually. To many people, it's not derogatory, but to those who can read the line, it's the same as calling a black man "boy."
Now, what does this mean to me? In her attempt to get on TV, she willingly acted as an expert in an unrelated field to promote her book. She essentially sacrificed her integrity without so much as a thought to the consequences and now that this expert has been spoiled as well, they'll simply search for the next one. Fox is famous for this, actually. And Fox legally won the right to lie since they argued the News is protected under the Freedom of Speech. So essentially I am blaming this incident on Fox News and rightfully so.
But Cooper Lawrence is just as guilty. She had no clue about the subject matter in which she was being called an expert, she vocally abused her debate partner, and she pretended to have intimate knowledge as an expert despite her field being about as appropriate as asking 50 Cent about the Chinese Economy. And now that she has, rightfully, been called out, she's backing away and placing blame on Fox.
But truthfully, she is at fault and she should be slammed. Fox should be slammed as well.
Greyseal @ Jan 26th 2008 12:55PM
Kudos to Cooper Lawrence for recognizing her mistake and owning up to it, regardless of the format.
I agree that NY Times and Fox News do not share a demographic, since one is for thoughtful people that want to read news, and the other is for conservative zealots that want their pre-existing opinions reinforced by better-known conservative zealots.
But it still takes guts to say "I was wrong," and she opted not to weaken the apology by qualifying it in any way. She's off the hook as far as I'm concerned.
Fox, however, should still be pressed for an apology.
mmxzero @ Jan 26th 2008 2:31PM
Ha, way to patronize your own side of the political spectrum. Generalizations never work.
As for Cooper Lawrence, gotcha bitch!
Greyseal @ Jan 26th 2008 5:34PM
Generalizations ALWAYS work.
Hey... wait...
UltimateQ @ Jan 26th 2008 8:35PM
[Fox News] is for conservative zealots that want their pre-existing opinions reinforced by better-known conservative zealots.
You win. I am saving that line.
Joe @ Jan 27th 2008 4:09AM
"As for Cooper Lawrence, gotcha bitch!"
Comb your beard, I don't wanna hear that shit!
Sarge @ Jan 29th 2008 3:57PM
I would argue that the New York Times is for liberal zealots who only think they are thoughtful individuals.
Christopher @ Jan 26th 2008 12:55PM
Live in NYC. and the paper is very left and very biased at times.
capt_carl @ Jan 26th 2008 1:05PM
That's any newspaper. I read Newsday on a daily basis, and that has its moments as well.
Scotto @ Jan 26th 2008 2:03PM
I'm getting really tired of this nonsense about the NYT being "left-wing".
Prove it has a systemic bias. Otherwise, shut up.
It's like saying people who disagree with George Bush are "leftists", simply because he is a conservative. It's possible to disagree, solely because you think he's batshit crazy.
- Scott
nindustrial @ Jan 26th 2008 4:04PM
"Reality has a well-known liberal bias." - Stephen Colbert
Dirk Dorkelson @ Jan 26th 2008 5:04PM
Yeah, particularly those Judith Miller stories about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that the Bush administration cited during the runup to the Iraq war. Those had a TOTALLY left-leaning bias. Oh, wait.
kihadat @ Jan 26th 2008 6:00PM
That's great, I live in Texas, and I have as much access to the NY Times as you. So, does that prove it has a conservative bias?
AvelaTT @ Jan 26th 2008 7:54PM
Did someone actually quote Stephen Colbert as part of their argument? If u paid attention at all to his show, you would know that he means the opposite of everything he says.
Mike @ Jan 26th 2008 12:58PM
Look that MISINFORMATION was broadcast across the whole NATION.. putting a little story in a paper isn't going to cut it. Even if it is the New York Times. She needs to go back on air and correct her statements.
kojo87 @ Jan 27th 2008 12:40AM
"Look that MISINFORMATION was broadcast across the whole NATION"
sounds like a typical Fox "News" broadcast to me...