The Games Journalism Prizes, an awards initiative set up by a community interest group in the UK, have just announced the final group of nominees for their longlist, with the whittling down process to commence immediately and the winners to be announced some time in February.
On 16 July 2012, at the headquarters of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, a group of journalists gathered to listen to the thoughts of some prominent British writers on the subject of games journalism.
The six luminaries were Helen Lewis (New Statesman Deputy Editor), Kieron Gillen (Rock Paper Shotgun founder/Marvel writer), Naomi Alderman (author/journalist), Keza MacDonald (IGN UK Games Editor), Rob Fahey (journalist/GamesIndustry.biz founder) and Keith Stuart (games correspondent for The Guardian).
The panel discussed the growing pains of the games journalism industry, the lack of recognition from more established quarters of the press and the ethics and integrity of a journalistic discipline so intertwined with corporate interests. It was an informal but informative session.
The discussion was brought to a close with the announcement of a new initiative to bring greater recognition to the efforts of games journalists. They went to some length to explain that the Games Journalism Prizes were in no way linked to BAFTA and were an independent peer recognition award.
“We’re an interest group, incorporating as a Community Interest Group – which means that no-one can ever own these awards, nor can anyone make a profit from them. The members of the advisory committee for the awards are Dave Green, Dan Griliopoulos and Keith Stuart. None of their work will be eligible for the prizes. The prize is not affiliated with BAFTA, The Guardian or UKIE.”
Further information can be found on the Games Journalism Prize website.
‘BAFTA Entrance’ Image Credit: Me, hence the terrible blurriness, sorry.
Published: Jan 26, 2013 01:47 pm