Over the last couple of days, I exchanged a couple of e-mails with Jeff Gerstmann, former editorial director of GameSpot. His name has been big in the news ever since this last Thursday, November 29, when his dismissal from his decade-long tenure at site became public via Penny Arcade and Kotaku.

Gerstmann and I talked editorial standards and the extent to which he thinks gamers should expect advertising and editorial to be kept apart. And he indulged in my effort to do a little digging, urged on as I was by readers of this blog to find out if there has been a pattern of GameSpot reviews clashing — or, potentially worse, not clashing — with high-profile ad campaigns.

Here’s an excerpt from the conversation I had with Gerstmann:

If you’re running a publication and you’re comfortable running infomercials and advertorials, they should be clearly marked as such. If you’re covering a game that you have a vested interest in, that should be disclosed. And I think if you’re striving to deliver unbiased, honest coverage of an industry, you should spell out the policies and processes that you use to meet that goal.

We were talking about these things, of course, because the rumored reason for his termination from the company is that his unflattering reviews of games such as “Kane & Lynch” got him in hot water with his bosses. About that, he told me what he told Joystiq, that he cannot comment on the reasons for his dismissal.

And for the record, the reasons for Gerstmann’s dismissal are still just rumors. GameSpot parent CNET won’t comment on their current or former employees. A CNET spokesperson addressed my question last week about advertising pressures playing a role in this situation by stating, in part, that “For over a decade, GameSpot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community.” My follow-up in which I re-asked whether “Kane & Lynch” publisher Eidos had any expectations for a favorable review has not been responded to, nor have repeated inquiries to Eidos. (I suggest checking out Kotaku’s latest reporting on this, in which they have an insider weigh in on what may have really happened).

Read on for the rest of my conversation with Gerstmann.

Also, see that chart up there? That’s the estimated traffic performance of GameSpot over the most recent seven-day stretch that the figures are available. Remember, this story broke on Nov 29. That’s when people on the Internet started talking about blacking out the site.

Note the lack of a dip.

Read more…

UPDATED With Comments from CNET

Penny Arcade made a comic about the — rumor — last night that GameSpot was having trouble reconciling the site’s major ad deal with game publisher Eidos with the 6.0 review the site’s head reviewer gave Eidos’ advertised game, “Kane & Lynch.”

Kotaku had their own post up last night, connecting the dots while still saying the review causing the firing was a rumor.

Read Gerstmann’s written review of the game here. Watch his video review here.

Joystiq reported this morning that:

Jeff has confirmed his firing to us via e-mail, but says he’s “not really able to comment on the specifics of my termination.” He added that he’s “looking forward to getting back out there and figuring out what’s next.” We’re still digging.

Joystiq also got a no comment from GameSpot parent company CNET.

I’ve put in requests to Eidos and CNET myself, in hopes of finding out what Eidos’ deal with Gamespot and expectations for “Kane & Lynch” reviews really were. I’ll post anything I find out.

But, rest assured, any hint that a media outlet might reprimand a reviewer for a negative review of a game for which it is running ads is not sitting well with many gamers out there. Hopefully this story will be clarified so we can see what was really going on…

Update, 2:05PM: CNET director of public relations Leslie Dotson Van Every just dropped me a line.

I had asked: Separate from Gerstmann, there is the question of whether Eidos’ advertising deal with Gamespot/CNET would have involved any stipulations or expectations regarding the nature of Gamespot’s review of the Kane and Lynch game. Can you comment on whether there was Gamespot/CNET agreed to any restrictions on how Kane and Lynch would be reviewed on Gamespot?

She provided this company statement: “GameSpot takes its editorial integrity extremely seriously. For over a decade, GameSpot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community. At CNET Networks, we stand behind the editorial content that our teams produce on a daily basis.”

Update, 6:09 PM:  Joystiq’s Kyle Orland quotes a CNET spokeperson saying that Gerstmann was not fired at the behest of Eidos or any other advertiser. From his latest post:

While reiterating that CNET does not discuss personal employee matters with the press, [CNET spokesperson Sarah] Cain said directly that “we do not terminate employees based on external pressure from advertisers.” When asked specifically about whether any such pressure was even attempted on Eidos’ part, Cain had no comment.