German gamers face jail for acts of virtual violence

The Guardian ^ | 12 Dec 2006 | Bobbie Johnson

[FLOutdoorsman]

Players and creators of video games could face imprisonment for acts of virtual violence under draft legislation being drawn up by two of Germany's state governments.

Politicians in Bavaria and Lower Saxony have proposed a new offence that will punish "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters" inside games. Early drafts suggest that infringers should face fines or up to 12 months' jail for promoting or enacting in-game violence.

The scheme comes in response to a shooting last month in the town of Emsdetten on the Dutch border, where Sebastian Bosse, an 18-year-old games fan, stormed into his former school and wounded 37 people before killing himself.

[kalee]

ping

[Schweinhund]

Oh. Like Islam?

Like Islamism, Communism, Christianism, Fascism, Scienticism, Prism, Democratizism, Cretinicism, Shizm, Fizzm, Internet Smartassizism etc.

[Red6]

Read your Spiegel and consider yourself well informed.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1752988/posts

This sort of story seldom makes their news. But a story about a video game which NO major merchant carries in the US. Do you understand that? NO major merchant has this game on their shelf. I never even heard of this game until "Der Spiegel" wrote about it, and I game on occasion and live in the US. In fact, no one I know, ever hear of this game yet it makes their COVER PAGE! Why, is what you should ask. But people like you, who question everything and are such "critical thinkers" when in your group practicing group think, and patting each other on the back with such intelectual idea's like "Iraq was only for oil" seldom seem to do that because after all, you're hearing what you like to hear and want to believe.

Der Spiegel is secular, it's ultra liberal, and they are anti-American, no matter how much you attempt to deny it. Both "what" they pick to report on and "how" they spin their articles is consistent with my statement. But you can believe what you want.

[Smokin' Joe]

Prism? ...Internet Smartassizism etc.

LOL!

[Schweinhund]

First of all, I do not like to pat my male cothinkers...

Second, this made front page in the internet edition, category 'networld'.

Third, yes: The 'Spiegel' IS ultra liberal and seular, but it's not what I would call decidedly anti-american. Of course it is when you read David's Medienkritik. But what DM leaves out is the noticeable portion of pro-american (or pro-conservative) views the magazine prints.

Fourth: Stop putting words in my mouth. What I said ON THIS BOARD in 2003 is that starting Iraq with Afghanistan unfinished is unwise and may lead to more Chaos than is good for the West. I never started a materialist debate, because I well knew this war would be very expensive either way.

[isom35]

sounds like the politicians got owned at some point in their lives (or is it pwned?)

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I wonder what would have been the sentence for 'azshira' and his band of marauders engaging in THIS funeral massacre in World of Warcraft.

Ahhh...a classic.

[GOPJ]

Actual Thought Crimes and Thought Police. Absolutely terrifying.

Yep, terrifying. -- and very German.

[Red6]

Der Spiegel operates using two methods.

1. They only print certain stories which have the inherent bias they like. Of course a major story which is carried internationally that does not fit into their agenda they will also print, that is the occasional conservative view you talk about. Example: When Bush won in 2004. It's kind of hard to ignore and pretend away at that point. However, this goes into the second point, spin.

2. Near all articles in "Der Spiegel" have a strong pro left and yes, like it or not, anti-American spin. Example: When Bush won, they ran articles how he won because of those crazy fanatical American right wing bible thumpers, more or less. All the articles covering Bush were "negative". When the Democrats took Congress in the last elections, the articles were near all "positive".

The US, is not a secular nation. Nearly 85% of Americans claim to be religious in some way. Churches over here are plentiful and large, and it's not the state that pays for them (Keine Kirschensteuer), but private donations purely. Even our Democrats are hard core Conservatives by German standards in an economic sense. Der Spiegel is a socialist paper. They favor strongly a secular socialist view, and yes, they inherently ARE anti-American and can't help themselves because of what America is. They will occasionally prop up some guy and talk nicely about him like Krugman who is often quoted in this paper because he's a socialist. The only good American to "Der Spiegel" is a socialist American (And they are the ones that get favorable coverage and quoted a lot), but that's not what America is about.

The media is inherently more left than the rest of society in most nations, just as universities and colleges. Der Spiegel is within this left oriented media landscape on the more far left edge. Go any further left and were talking about a PDS pamphlet. This can also be seen through associations, "who" people deal with and associate with. In the US, the New York Times is one of the most left papers there is. Der Spiegel and the NYT's work together, share articles, and have a permanent relationship.

No matter how you try to pretend it's not there, in Der Spiegel you will see an anti-American undertone, because the US is a Christian nation, it thinks nationally, it's economically conservative, it's English in culture predominantly. The story about this computer game is a "perfect example". A NO NAME company, a NO NAME computer game, not carried in any store, hardly known to anyone gets a major story devoted to it on line. Why? Because just as Bush was portrayed in 2004 in Der Spiegel with a Cross behind him in many pictures and presented as a radical religious zealot, this fits into their "agenda".

[Lazamataz]

Politicians in Bavaria and Lower Saxony have proposed a new offence that will punish "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters" inside games. Early drafts suggest that infringers should face fines or up to 12 months' jail for promoting or enacting in-game violence.

How about promoting, or preferably enacting, violence on politicians in Bavaria and Lower Saxony who propose bonebeaded legislation like this?

[Lazamataz]

No, seriously: The topic of the game (which I did not play up to now) seems to be that you have to convert everyone and kill the unconvertable. That kind of fundamentalist nut game concept does not need propaganda to look bad.

I need to own this game.

And you will bow to me, as I convert you to my religion BY FORCE, or I will KILL YOU.

[Schweinhund]

1. They only print certain stories which have the inherent bias they like.

Yes...presenting your world view or bias is somewhat the point of compiling a magazine. Every magazine does it to some extent. But IMO the Spiegel is enough of a professional news magazine to realize their bias and counter it to some extent, by bringing stories that are not in line with it. The last story I can remember was one I recently translated for FreeRepublic, an interview about Quaeda influence and structures in Bosnia that implicated that the former SPD/Green government had chosen the wrong side in that war.

2. Near all articles in "Der Spiegel" have a strong pro left and yes, like it or not, anti-American spin. Example: [...] Bush

Pro-left: yes, 'anti-American': no. I'll give it to you that they hate Bush and tend to report negative about his government. On the other hand, they tend to publish many articles of Henryk M. Broder, for example. Broder is a decidedly pro-conservative Jew, whose last book on the mindstate of the German war on terror bore the name: "Horray, we're surrendering!".

Der Spiegel is within this left oriented media landscape on the more far left edge.

I'll make it short and give you a through pass: Not in the German media landscape. It is the biggest news paper with a bias to the left, but by far not an extremely left paper (those, like for example the "Junge Welt", are really completely unreadable).

A NO NAME company, a NO NAME computer game, not carried in any store, hardly known to anyone gets a major story devoted to it on line. Why?

Because it's news. Anyway, that "Left Behind" series was quite a success up to now, wasn't it? And I am still waiting for you to tell me how this game needs any spin to make a negative impression. Anyway, the topic stayed on the online edition front page for about a day and was then exchanged.

[Schweinhund]

And you will bow to me, as I convert you to my religion BY FORCE, or I will KILL YOU.

Is it Buddhism?

[Red6]

It is actually quite easy to write something that is “objective” and “neutral”. However, Der Spiegel does NOT fit this description.

The most popular newspaper, at least some time ago in the US, was USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com One of the main reasons for this was that they used color. What sells a paper or magazine is not quality of reporting, it’s conflict, sensationalizing, color, pictures, etc. That’s the market Der Speigel is in. Der Spiegel is to weekly magazines what Bild is to a daily paper, trash. The fact that Der Spiegel is a popular magazine is no testament to its accuracy, neutrality, or anything else. It’s rather a statement of their ability to “sell” news.

When issues are controversial, is it a hard concept to grasp that fair reporting means both sides get equal coverage? That both sides are represented by people of equal rank and authority on the position? That the moderator is there to keep the discussion on topic, and not throw rocks to the side he does not support and throw snowball questions at those he likes. The media has come to a point where it is acceptable to literally have three liberals and a moderator discuss a topic and claim this was an objective view.

It’s easy to measure bias!

Content bias can be determined in many ways. This is one example-

We can look at the use of Syntax (Key words), referential (example drawing connections to Vietnam in Iraq), propositional, or thematic (Your story on this PC game) as measures of bias. Copy articles into a Word doc and then do searches and you’ll see trends. Coincidence? No.

***Der Spiegel “FAILS” in every aspect*** Bias in reporting is blatant.

Because the US is a religious country, thinks nationally, is economically conservative, has an English heritage, Der Spiegel generally will have a negative reporting slant in what they write about the US since the US in those aspects is everything Der Spiegel opposes in it’s editorial slant. That’s why they pick up on such nonsense articles such as this computer game. The goal of such a nonsense story is to associate guilt. I could state that in Germany there are some NAZI’s and continually run stories on these two NAZI’s, what image would that create? Is Germany really at risk of falling under control of the NAZI? No. In Germany you recently had another school shooting. If the same would have happened in the US, what would Spiegel have written, who would they have “spun” it reference gun laws in the US? Trying to associate the American Christian right with a no name computer game which no one watches is like trying to say all Germans are NAZI’s because someone somewhere in Germany wrote a NAZI statement. It’s BS news, and when a media outlet “consistently” engages in such behavior, as Der Spiegel does, it’s a testament to their agenda and lack of professionalism as a media outlet.

It's not news, it's creating news, news that fits into their agenda.

[1rudeboy]

WOW... An Online RPG Funeral Gets Ambushed

Best. WTFPWN. Video. Ever. (Hope the embedded links still work).

[Schweinhund]

Because the US is a religious country, thinks nationally, is economically conservative, has an English heritage, Der Spiegel generally will have a negative reporting slant in what they write about the US since the US in those aspects is everything Der Spiegel opposes in it’s editorial slant.

I advise you to wait until you have a new president, no matter whether democrat or republican. But I think I understood what you're saying.

The Spiegel has a history of investigative journalism (as does the Times, if I'm not mistaken). Since the former owner and chef Augstein died, they have become worse. I am not reading the magazine constantly, just checking the internet portal every day (along with Tagesschau.de and google news).

But to put it like this: Even if I should agree with you that the Spiegel is a no-good lieing piece of chlorophyll, that would still change nothing about the convert or die christian fundamentalist game, would it? You find it unfair that they report it (even in an online publication under 'internet news', hardly a good place for a media war campaign)? Because 'no one will play it anyway'? I am a Lutheran and I wish all the best to Christianity, but seriously, that game is SUCH a gift to everyone ridiculing Christian fundamentalism, that all I have left for those who feel adressed by that Spiegel Online story is:

Awww...

[Oberon]

Reading your posts gives me an inexplicable craving for grilled bratwurst and a tall doppelbock...must be lunchtime.

[Red6]

Read my first post!

A story on a man being "executed" in Gaza by Palestinian gunmen in real life, not some fictional game does not make the website a day earlier. A story about a computer game that is in NO major retail store, is hardly known to anyone, has practically no sales, from a no name company makes the news. What's your point?

[Schweinhund]

I don't know why, maybe because the one thing is a 'networld' topic and the other one isn't. Maybe because the story about one execution in Gaza wasn't enough news and they were waiting for a more headline-worthy story about Palestinians shooting Palestinians.

[Red6]

You're full of shit, and I'll tell you why. When the story was headline news, Der Spiegel didn't run it. Two days later, when it's in all other MSM outlets they run with it. Why? Because just like when Bush was elected, they have to at that point.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,236678,00.html

At this point, it's being reported by all major media outlets, can Der Spiegel really afford "not" to cover the story? No.

But while people were being executed in broad day light by gunmen, Der Spiegel had a "major story" on some no name company, that had a no name game, which isn't in any store, is hardly selling, and barely known. And the basic message of their story was? Those crazy fanatical American Christians!