Screengrab from Kotaku
Kotaku was forced to issue an apology after one of their articles produced false information.
In the article Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Persona 5 DLC Includes a Disability Slur, Kotaku writer Laura Kate Dale claimed a song on the new Super Smash Bro DLC 'Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There', used a disability slur and explained the history of the word before condemning Nintendo for its use.
In her article, Dale writes "At around 1:58 it appears the term 'retarded' is used, and followed by the assertion that 'I can say it.'"
The problem with this story is that it is false. Readers were quick to point out that the song says something close like "retort it" or "restart it" but the word "retarded" is never used. Dale's story was also perceived as racist toward Japanese people who speak heavily accented English.
Earlier today, Kotaku editor, Rich Stanton, published a new article apologizing Dales false accusations.
In the article We Screwed Up With That Persona Lyric, Stanton explains they "published the article before a response was received," and was quick to point out, "I am the editor of the site and, ultimately, that means this error was mine and mine alone."
Stanton apologized to "Atlus, Nintendo, and the many Persona fans who were angry about this piece."
Acknowledging his fault as editor is the correct move. The fault, however, is not Stanton's alone, as Laura was the one who wrote the article in question to begin with. It wasn't Stanton trying to spark outrage over a song from a game. Those were her words used in the article.
On the topic of deleting the original piece, Stanton said, "Kotaku UK does not delete articles. On the internet, what would be the point anyway? We admit our mistakes, own them, and update the original to reflect new information."
It is unknown as of yet if any punishment have been made for the false story.
Personally, I like Kotaku. I have even used them as a credible source for my own articles. Kotaku, in recent years has done a lot of good for the games industry. A recent example would be the extraordinary journalism of Jason Scheier, who's expose revealed the horrors of being a Bioware employee during the six years of Anthems development. However, the comment sections of the sites two most recent articles would suggest faith in Kotaku is beginning to wane.
The site has shown they have the potential to do great things for the games industry and gaming journalism. I want to see them grow but no outlet can truly flourish by publishing stories like this. I hope they learn from this embarrassing experience and, in Stanton's own words, "strive to do better."
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