Edge Magazine Pulls Contributor's Column

[fitbabits]

Mr. Biffo, one of Edge magazine's (http://www.edge-online.co.uk/) regular contributors, has decided to go public (http://biffovision.blogspot.com/2007/04/spiked.html) about his newest column being pulled from the magazine.

I'm not sure I've ever really written about video games in this here blog. The main reason being that I write a monthly column for top games bible Edge, and I don't want to tread on their toes.

However, my column has been pulled from the next issue, because it was felt to be too much of a personal attack on a certain individual.

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...I did witness an astonishing moment in the PlayStation 3 pre-release story, and I'd be doing a dirty on my journalistic integrity if I didn't at least attempt to document it
Man, there's nothing personal in that column at all. It's a retelling of an actual event. I'm deeply disappointed in Edge for pulling this, especially given their reasons for doing so.

[karak]

Another case of Sony causing issues if anyone says anything negative? I don't know. But if that was the story put forth by this writer into Edge there is nothing wrong with it. I guess they could say its a rambling story and edited it. But nevertheless it was gaming related and situation related.

[Dr.Finger]

It makes Harrison look like a bit of a tool, but I wouldn't call it 'personal'. And frankly if Edge thought that Sony would freeze them out over this they're borderline paranoid.

[Philonious]

I would call it pointless. A failed PR attempt to be sure, but hardly qualifying as news. Harisson trying to jack up the price: Dodgy. Harrison trying to jack up the price FOR CHARITY: Not Dodgy.

[DangerousDaze]

It's a bit sad, but not nearly as sad as still claiming to be a Marillion fan - that's completely Fugazi. A Marillion Weekend (yeah, a whole weekend) in Holland (yeah, Holland) isn't exactly a core videogaming audience.

[Citizen Philip]

Ooh.. gee a gaming magazine turns down someone's anecdotal story about a totally unrelated event where someone who is involved in the gaming industry say something stupid. Scorned blogger assumes he writes gold, not shit, and takes to the streets to play the role of a martyr.

[CaptStu]

It was rather humorous. I currently work in the magazine industry. I was an editor for 10 years. I see why it was pulled, but it still sucks.

[Savok]

Dammit people, this is something that actually kinda sorta resembles journalism, granted it exists by pure luck. Less reading press releases and attending conventions and more actual collecting of information from sources OTHER then sanctioned events or disgruntled workers leaking information.

[GabeCube]

Ooh.. gee a gaming magazine turns down someone's anecdotal story about a totally unrelated event where someone who is involved in the gaming industry say something stupid. Scorned blogger assumes he writes gold, not shit, and takes to the streets to play the role of a martyr.

Well, it IS a column. I don't know if you read Edge, but this is a much more personal space for the editors... and not at all for hard news. Think of it as an editorial.

[karak]

Dammit people, this is something that actually kinda sorta resembles journalism, granted it exists by pure luck. Less reading press releases and attending conventions and more actual collecting of information from sources OTHER then sanctioned events or disgruntled workers leaking information.
Exactly.
I like to hear this kind of thing, good or bad.

[Kamalot]

Sony wouldn't have to bully magazines if they just didn't let people like Phil make an ass of themselves to begin with.

Now Sony looks like a bumbling moron for trying to take over the concert, AND for making a stink over the story. 2X the fun!

[wichenroder]

Mr. Biffo is the weakest thing about Edge.. I was hoping they pulled his whole column.

[Citizen Philip]

Well, it IS a column. I don't know if you read Edge, but this is a much more personal space for the editors... and not at all for hard news. Think of it as an editorial.

An inflammatory anecdote about a beaten dead horse is not an editorial. And it *is* inflammatory, and not in a particularly interesting, new or refreshing way.

[drakkarim]

aside from the article being 70% junk, i didn't see anything 'personal' about it at all.

[Reanimated]

What an awesome story. They should have put it in the magazine.

[Dag-Sabot]

Is there anywhere one can read the offendingly pulled pork sandwich? Mmm barbq sauce. Lunch time! Found it! Funny as hell and a tasty read.

[roboninja]

Yeah, I thought it was a funny, if rambling read. Editing would be all well and good, but pulling it entirely for being a "personal attack"? If Phil Harrison does not want to be spoken of this way, maybe he should stop doing things that cause such.

[Podfork]

I would call it pointless. A failed PR attempt to be sure, but hardly qualifying as news. Harisson trying to jack up the price: Dodgy. Harrison trying to jack up the price FOR CHARITY: Not Dodgy.

You gotta love how everyone (but you) ignores that point and just keeps on riding that same Sony train.

Kudos to the one guy who paid attention to ALL the details, scorn to the usual suspects. :rolleyes:

[karak]

You gotta love how everyone (but you) ignores that point and just keeps on riding that same Sony train.

Kudos to the one guy who paid attention to ALL the details, scorn to the usual suspects. :rolleyes:
Once I see pile of shit...I never dig deeper:) I just assume its shit.

[ilian]

good article, shame it was pulled, I do have to disagree that you say there was nothing personal in the article at all, there was a lot in there in the language and inflammatory style it was used that had a very negative, personal slant directed at phil I thought. But, so what, not like game magazines are supposed to be extremely serious news journalism, I thought it was appropriate enough for Edge.

Also, I agree with Citizen Philip.

[Telefrog]

It's not exactly magazine-level newsworthy, but it's certainly amusing.

[Nerv]

I wonder if it was pulled just for being too personal, or if it was pulled because it was too personal and the same old shit we've heard before?
SONY EXEC MAKES WITH THE CRAZY is fast becoming the new JACK THOMPSON THREATENS PEOPLE headline.

[Dag-Sabot]

Im waiting for the inevitable "SONY Bites Dog" byline, its the only thing they haven't done... Yet.

[silv]

Once I see pile of shit...I never dig deeper:) I just assume its shit.

I think the more telling note is he hoped up on stage to take over the auction, set the price at somthing no one wanted to pay for, and then kept pushing the issue until someone decided to take pity and put it out of its misery.

Let's face it, a bunch of fans at their favorite bands concert is a great place to auction a t-shirt. A PS3 at the high price of $600, uhh, not so much.

[Heretic Machine]

Eh, seems more like something appropriate for a blog site. I guess if this kind of column is normal for Edge, that'd be fine too, but I wouldn't expect to see something like that in a gaming magazine. Just Phil Harrison doing something extraordinarily embarrassing to himself, while he was likely drunk. I'm sure he probably sobered up halfway through and wanted to get off stage as much as anyone else wanted him to be gone.

I don't think it can really even be used as a poke at Sony, it isn't like they sent him to that concert to do that. It sounded very impromptu, and as I said, he was probably drunk when he decided to do it. That said, it was an amusing story, so maybe it would be a good column in an amusing stories section of the magazine.

[Samael]

aside from the article being 70% junk, i didn't see anything 'personal' about it at all.

Biffo assumes the worst of Harrison's motives throughout; given the one-sided presentation it's reasonable to describe it as a mild personal attack.

Also, even independent of other concerns it's just not very good. It's laboured, long, and overly negative. It reads like he's trying to work though some personal feelings about the event, a good reason to do a blog post perhaps but not a magazine article. For example a story about Harrison trying to sell a PS3 to 10,000 people and no-one wanting it, could have make a general point about the European launch and still touched on the mercantile aspects he felt he perceived.

[agentgray]

Another case of Sony causing issues if anyone says anything negative?
Which is exactly why E3 this year will be different.

[Nerv]

Actually, re-reading it, the article is very slanted against Harrison, so I can understand why an editor wouldn't want to publish it, even if it's a column piece rather than an on location report.
(Also, personally I think the whole Marillion fan rant is just bad journalism.)

Rather than bid, Harrison offered to auction a brand new PS3, paid for from his “own pocket”.

However, before you could say “Fake blog fiasco”,
Realising that this was another solid gold opportunity to promote his floundering device, he blurted out the launch date, probably mumbled something about “a new dawn of interactive entertainment”, and inexplicably re-booted the auction with a fresh starting price of 600 euros.


With this following on from an extremely generous and selfless act by one of the fans, you could clearly see the band and their representatives crying slightly. Indeed, a couple of them shuffled off into the wings, presumably to acquire a large pillow with which to smother this ghastly suit.
For several minutes Harrison attempted to cajole an entirely silent crowd of several thousand people into bidding for his console. Terribly, but somehow inevitably, the bidding never moved beyond Harrison’s starting price. Indeed, he became increasingly desperate as it grew clear that everyone just wanted him to go away, and nobody was going to indulge his tasteless attempt at publicity.

In total, the PS3 received one bid, for the 600 euro starting price (“The price it’ll be in UK shops”, he kindly reminded everyone) – less than the t-shirt. Even then the sole bidder clearly regretted his purchase (which he only made on the promise that the console would be signed), for he spent a minute or so bellowing like a lunatic at his fellow audience members, urging them to pick up the bidding baton, and save him from his regrettable impulse purchase: “Somebody bid! It’s only a hundred quid per autograph! Please?! Why? Why? Why?”.

Harrison eventually shuffled off the stage to the sound of tumbleweeds, most of the band having left already, doubtlessly ruing the decision to let Sony’s corporate agenda taint a decidedly un-corporate weekend.

It reads like a Blog post rather than a column in what's probably the best gaming mag out there.

[Dag-Sabot]

heh. yeah, thanks.

[EternalGamer]

The story didn't need to be pulled because it was "personal," it needed to be pulled because it was much ado about absolutely nothing. However, it is clear that the article is a pretty uneventual recounting of a PR flop with some personal jabs tossed in for no good reason.

[ElectroDruid]

For those who don't read Edge, and were wondering - Mr. Biffo's column appears every month, and almost always takes this kind of tone of borderline-offensive ranting, in a way which is definitely to be considered as Editorial rather than News. There are 3 or 4 writers who contribute this kind of stuff to every issue, and Mr. Biffo's is almost always the highlight. He's a pretty long-serving and well-regarded games journalist over here, so having his column pulled is likely to raise a few eyebrows.

In the context of the columns he usually writes, this article isn't particularly inflammatory or unusual, but I can see how Edge might be nervous about running it. Pity.

[Wonka]

Am I the only one who thinks this might have been pulled because an audience of 2500 people did not even want to bid on a PS3 for charity? It's not Phil who this story makes look bad: it's the PS3.

This story makes the PS3 look like something that people would not even want to buy for the purposes of charity... It doesn't matter that these people were not likely gamers. This is just horrific PR for the PS3.

OUCH.

[Sloth]

if i'm reading this right, it looks like Phil Harrison didn't honor the auction. If the bidding started at 100 euros and got a couple bids, what right did he have to say "no its now 600 euros your bids are all nullified" unless he was bidding on it himself, if that is the case, thats very under handed and I would have fired him over that, its like welching on a bet.

[Dag-Sabot]

I would call it pointless. A failed PR attempt to be sure, but hardly qualifying as news. Harisson trying to jack up the price: Dodgy. Harrison trying to jack up the price FOR CHARITY: Not Dodgy.
One of the winners very generously gave up his prize of a signed t-shirt, offering instead to auction it in aid of one of Marillion’s favoured charities (‘Victims of Prog Rock’).

I seriously doubt this is a registered charity. So Back to dodgy.

[WastelandDan]

definitely a pretty weak decision to refuse to publish his article.

[thecrazyd]

Looks like we ended up with a stupid news post about a stupid blog entry that wasn't posted in a magazine for being shitty and inflammatory.

[Citizen Philip]

Looks like we ended up with a stupid news post about a stupid blog entry that wasn't posted in a magazine for being shitty and inflammatory.

Yes, but if weighted as much as a duck we COULD have burned it.

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

Yes, but if weighted as much as a duck we COULD have burned it.
Are you saying the PS3 is a witch? Quick, see if it weighs less than a duck!

[fitbabits]

I would call it pointless. A failed PR attempt to be sure, but hardly qualifying as news. Harisson trying to jack up the price: Dodgy. Harrison trying to jack up the price FOR CHARITY: Not Dodgy.
There is no charity involved here. The mention of the make-believe one is in keeping with the sarcastic and self-effacing tone of the article.

I declare major dodgery!

[Dag-Sabot]

-As was mentioned a mere 4 posts previous to yours. :P

[TrackZero]

Actually, re-reading it, the article is very slanted against Harrison, so I can understand why an editor wouldn't want to publish it, even if it's a column piece rather than an on location report.
(Also, personally I think the whole Marillion fan rant is just bad journalism.)

It reads like a Blog post rather than a column in what's probably the best gaming mag out there.

Agree for all but this bit:

"For several minutes Harrison attempted to cajole an entirely silent crowd of several thousand people into bidding for his console. Terribly, but somehow inevitably, the bidding never moved beyond Harrison’s starting price. Indeed, he became increasingly desperate as it grew clear that everyone just wanted him to go away, and nobody was going to indulge his tasteless attempt at publicity."

That's a neutral statement, while damning, it's no less true since he was the one there experiencing there audience's vibe.

[TrackZero]

if i'm reading this right, it looks like Phil Harrison didn't honor the auction. If the bidding started at 100 euros and got a couple bids, what right did he have to say "no its now 600 euros your bids are all nullified" unless he was bidding on it himself, if that is the case, thats very under handed and I would have fired him over that, its like welching on a bet.

Perhaps he's one of those assholes who set a "reserve" on an eBay auction? ;)

[Heretic Machine]

Perhaps he's one of those assholes who set a "reserve" on an eBay auction? ;)

I fucking hate that. Set a starting price that is at the minimum of what you want, and then let it ride. That reserve stuff is bullshit.

[Vandenh]

I am not sure why you would put this in a magazine. This is about the personal life of Phil (yes he was trolling the PS3 but who cares) and is not really newsworthy IMHO. If the guy wanted to point to bad marketing of Sony he had plenty of other stuff to write about.

[bivith]

There is no charity involved here. The mention of the make-believe one is in keeping with the sarcastic and self-effacing tone of the article.

I declare major dodgery!

The auctions were for charity

http://www.marillionweekend.com/2007/index.htm

"This year's Charity Book raised £2200 for the QAS charity for disadvantad children in South America "

[stx]

Mr. Biffo is the weakest thing about Edge.. I was hoping they pulled his whole column.

Did they fire Tim Guest?