NY Post Says GTA Worse Than Molesting

wiredbeat2000 writes "The New York Post has an inflammatory article which argues that Take Two's Grand Theft Auto is worse than child molestation and more harmful than second hand smoke. The story, which appears in the business section, calls for an outright ban of video games it claims are no better than snuff films, and concludes: 'Stay away from this [Take Two] stock - far, far away - and you'll be doing both your wallet and your fellow man a favor'." Lucky the author hasn't checked out Manhunt yet, huh?

editorial reply

[Anonymous Coward]

if you dont like the article, one can always send a carefully worded editorial saying that thousands (millions?) of people play GTA and other violent games without going berzerk or feeling mentally tortured. Remember to point out that M rating on such games and what that M means. Provide comparison of M with the E and T and other ratings, and give examples of popular games carrying those ratings.

if you do a decent job, they (the nypost) may publish your reply along with other responses. I recommend keeping a reply short and to the point, and, more than anything else, do _not_ ramble.

Re:editorial reply

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/letters/letters_ editor.htm [nypost.com]

The above link may help. If you wish for the Post to take you seriously, put in your real contact information, as newspapers typically call you to verify you actually wrote the editorial.

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[account_deleted]

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Re:IANAL

[Mattcelt]

Free speech doesn't protect libel. Someone recently told me about an old article where a Doctor Shaklee (someone who had earned a PhD or MD or equivalent, I'm not sure what) was described in the NY Times as, "Mr. Shaklee, who calls himself a doctor". This sort of speech is not protected, because it is untrue and defamatory. I would speculate that Rockstar might actually have a case here.

BTW, it was Billy Joel, and the song banned was "Only the Good Die Young". By his own admission (which I was personally present for), it was a mediocre song which suddenly hit the big time when it was banned. The moral is: it is far better to ignore or intelligently ridicule something you want people to avoid than to censor it, especially in American culture.