And yet The Mary Sue has been quoted in places like The Guardian,Entertainment Weekly and Salon as recently as the Hugo Awards kerfuffle last year. There is an old saying in Organized Crime, “One hand washes the other” that was made famous in the novel “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo. Not to mention when you look at all of the other sites Abrams Media Network has (including Mediaite which is trying to turn itself into the new Yahoo! News where it concerns politics) and how they cross pollinate stories from their other sites it starts to cut far closer to journalism than most realize especially when many people trust op-ed pieces as fact and use them as sources when pushing a dialog or agenda. I don't think you realize exactly how few people realize it is not journalism,do not care to know or actively oppose the attitude that places like The Mary Sue or Blogs are not journalism.

As to false credentials, Mark himself said they didn't check. On that however are you saying if someone infiltrated Trumps campaign staff,the MRA movement or anything like those things (which members of both groups I used to belong to seem to have an issue with )using a false name or identity you would react the exact same way? If not,pot meet kettle.

As to click-bait (or what was once called yellow journalism) I think you would be surprised about how many don't know. As to Mark making a profit on it? How? He hasn't gotten paid for either article. How has this generated a profit for him? There are no ads on his blog. He hasn't gotten paid per click nor did he get paid by The Mary Sue. The only “profit” to be had in this was vindication of a point that in media,in click-bait articles and on social media has been demonized from the start. Thats what happens when you follow the attitude of “if you do not believe exactly as I believe you are an -ist/phobe”.

Of course for GG’s original point all one had to do was look at how many games get horrific reviews on Metacritic by players compared to the rave reviews by critics for gaming magazine to see there is an issue or at least a potential one. And before you ask,I am not nor have I ever been a member of the GG community. I see their point however. I am just not certain yet of if it is because of money or politics or a combination of both.