Ben Kuchera

Polygon, Senior editor

Previously: Ars Technica, Penny Arcade Report Editor-in-Chief

Apparent

Collusion

About

Member of GameJournoPros. Proven to have been active, and alleged to have had significant pull in the list.

Modifier

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Date

Not on file

Filed

2015 Mar 21

Amended

Corruption

About

Gave positive coverage to Zoe Quinn while financially supporting her. Soon after this was brought to light, Polygon updated their ethics policy and disclosure was added to this article.

Modifier

patched

Date

Not on file

Filed

2015 Mar 29

Possible

Corruption

About

Gave positive coverage to SportFriends, without disclosing his financial backing of the project — although he did disclose properly in a previous article.

Modifier

possible

Date

Not on file

Filed

2015 Mar 29

Apparent

Dishonesty

About

Claimed to have been harassed by GamerGate, while claiming he wasn't receiving any messages on GameJournoPros.

Modifier

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Date

Not on file

Filed

2015 Mar 29

Apparent

Intimidation

About

Directly attacked Forbes writer Erik Kain, explicitly stating his intent to hurt his career, for an article linking to an emulated version of a Super Nintendo game — despite having written about similar topics himself multiple times.

Modifier

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Date

Not on file

Filed

2015 Mar 29

Harassed game journalism blogger Ben Paddon, because he was using donation money he promised he would use for rent to buy medicine for his girlfriend instead.

Modifier

default

Date

Not on file

Filed

2015 Mar 29

Escalated a Twitter argument to threats by repeatedly trying to get his opponent fired, by repeatedly contacting his employer.

Modifier

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Date

Not on file

Filed

2015 Mar 29

Harassed EA head of communications Chris Mancil, calling in his employers, for linking to an article of his in his blog, in an entirely positive light.

Modifier

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Date

Not on file

Filed

2015 Mar 29

Apparent

Censorship

About

Attempted to censor discussion of journalistic ethics on The Escapist's forums by bullying then-Editor-in-Chief Greg Tito on GameJournoPros — accusing him of enabling harassment and calling free speech concerns a technicality.

Modifier

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Date

Not on file

Filed

2015 Mar 29

Apparent

Sensationalism

About

Reblogged Kotaku's article on the false Brad Wardell accusations, originally stating that it contained "damning evidence". While every other outlet republishing the accusations eventually published a clarification or an apology when they were proven false, Kuchera never did.

Modifier

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Date

Not on file

Filed

2015 Mar 29

Took part in the Dragon's Crown moral panic initiated by Jason Schreier.

Modifier

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Date

Not on file

Filed

2015 Mar 29

Apparent

Trivia

About

Was on the receiving end of a financial conflict of interest with Critical Distance, which gave him a plug while he was donating to their Patreon what appears to be an extraordinary amount.

Modifier

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Date

Not on file

Filed

2016 Sep 20

Wrote some significant articles about ethics in journalism during his time at Ars Technica, such as discussing the Call of Duty Black Ops review event (archive) or the pressure on reviewers on games Tomb Rider Underworld (archive) and Duke Nukem Forever (archive).

Modifier

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Date

Not on file

Filed

2015 Nov 25

Apparent GG Autoblocker user.

Modifier

default

Date

Not on file

Filed

2015 Apr 27

Portrayed in the People of GamerGate series.

Modifier

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Date

Not on file

Filed

2015 Mar 29

GameJournoPros membership isn’t an impropriety by itself. Read why DeepFreeze finds it notable.

This journalist’s career means they might be subject to slight asymmetric scrutiny.

Censorship, Dishonesty, Intimidation and Sensationalism emblems may be based on subjective criteria.

Readers are encouraged to take entries critically, and form their opinion independently.

Quick & dirty

Low-effort and sensationalist journalism causing embarrassing mistakes and life-ruining consequences

The stick and the Doritos

The constant struggle of games journalism against the influence of advertisers and game publishers

Unfair advantage

Some journalists give privileged access to the gaming industry based on friendship rather than on merits

Our enemy, the gamers

Gamers are entitled, Gamers are dead — Game journalists' unique contempt for their shrinking audience

Secrets of GameJournoPros

Some of the most incriminating stories uncovered this far about the secret mailing list of the game journalism elite