Abstrakt
This article examines to what extent differences between English and Russian language media coverage can be identified with respect to the death of indie games developer Alec Holowka. Special attention is paid to the direct accusations made against Alec Holowka by Zoë Quinn, as they initiated the public reaction that was a determining factor in his committing suicide.
The results of the media investigation are evaluated with regard to their possible societal implications regarding the audiences they are addressed to. Ultimately, the broad strokes of journalistic practice revealed here point towards a general alignment of the two branches of games journalism with the current cultural norms and inclinations in their respective cultural spheres.
The English language coverage as a whole was accordingly restrained in many respects and avoided implicating Zoë Quinn in Holowka's death. The Russian language coverage by contrast exhibited a heightened tendency towards sensationalized representation, while more frequently taking a critical stance towards Zoë Quinn and the role that Quinn played as instigator of Holowka's public denunciation.
Where deviations from the general trend could be observed, these were more frequent in the Russian corpus than in the English one. With regard to the current investigation, we can therefore point to a somewhat more heterogeneous journalistic landscape in the Russian-speaking world.