Kotaku:
"After the termination of established GameSpot reviewer and editorial director Jeff Gerstmann, we heard from employees of the site who spoke of the threat of "mass resignations." Today it would seem we have at least one confirmed casualty from the CNet/Gerstmann fallout, longtime freelance reviewer Frank Provo. The reviewer, with over seven years worth of contributions to GameSpot and some 751 reviews, confirmed on his work blog today that he was no longer writing for the site. "I believe CNet management let Jeff go for all the wrong reasons," wrote the reviewer "I believe CNet intends to soften the site's tone and push for higher scores to make advertisers happy."
Provo specialized in critiquing games for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and PSP during his tenure. He was often tasked with reviewing less than enviable portable fodder, as well as copious amounts of movie licensed games and retro releases via XBLA and the Wii Virtual Console.
He was especially vocal about the Jeff Gerstmann dismissal via his LiveJournal and message board NeoGAF, having harsh words for CNet management and expressing sympathy for peers still at Gamespot. He recently addressed his separation from the outlet by writing "I feel sad about the whole thing, but I can't write for a site that could one day punish me for honesty."
In a response to a comment posted on his GameSpot blog today, Provo defended his former compatriots, writing "The GameSpot staff did not fire Jeff. The GameSpot staff are NOT corrupt. GameSpot itself is NOT the problem. CNet is. CNet's management is."
Since Jeff was not really allowed to talk about why he was fired....Provo provides a little bit more evidence that GS reviewers sometimes have to be less "honest" when writing their reviews or CNet might be upset. I think this confirms the reason Jeff was fired (advertisers weren't happy). Provo was at GS for 7 years....he is definately not making this stuff up. Damn, this upsets me even more....how many reviewers are going to have to leave before CNet admits they're doing things all WRONG.
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