What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

-Langston Hughes, "Harlem"

The heads of GameSpot have finally given us something to chew on regarding Gerstmann-Gate.

The problem is that what they have provided is woefully insufficient given the controversy at hand.

Now, I understand completely how a company - any company - would like to put out a fire as quickly as possible. The problem with the release provided to us only adds fuel to the flames.

"Due to legal constraints and the company policy of GameSpot parent CNET Networks, details of Gerstmann's departure cannot be disclosed publicly. However, contrary to widespread and unproven reports, his exit was not a result of pressure from an advertiser.

"'Neither CNET Networks nor GameSpot has ever allowed its advertising business to affect its editorial content,' said Greg Brannan, CNET Networks Entertainment's vice president of programming. 'The accusations in the media that it has done so are unsubstantiated and untrue. Jeff's departure stemmed from internal reasons unrelated to any buyer of advertising on GameSpot.'"

Under many circumstances, that would be fair enough. Rare is the company that would go public with its decision-making processes, especially when the end result was someone's termination. Unfortunately, CNET/GameSpot's release leaves open a very large question. The paragraph before the ones quoted reads:

"'Jeff was a central figure in the creation and evolution of GameSpot, having written hundreds of previews and reviews, and anchoring much of our multimedia content,' said Ricardo Torres, editorial director of previews and events. 'The award-winning editorial team he leaves behind wish him nothing but good luck in his future endeavors.'"

Jeff had been on the GameSpot team for 11 years, was part of an award-winning team, and was widely appreciated by users. How does somebody of this status and caliber just get dropped? This isn't CNET firing some personal assistant who had been on the job two months and couldn't figure out how to use a coffee machine, this was a big deal.

Under these circumstances, normal procedure is to have some sort of tagline that's agreed upon by management and their victim, something like, "X said he achieved what he wanted to and felt like it was time to move on," or, "X cannot comment, citing the on-going police investigation." The line "[we] wish him luck" just doesn't cut it.

Furthermore, contrary to the subhead on the press release, the remaining GameSpot editors fail to address one very, very key element of this whole debacle. What happened to Jeff's video review?

If the internal decision was that Jeff's "tone" was beyond the image GameSpot wanted to project, then I can understand why the video would be taken down. But surely it goes beyond coincidence that its removal and Jeff's termination happened in one swoop; at least far enough beyond coincidence that it should be explained.

Do I believe that someone at Eidos picked up the phone and demanded that Jeff be fired, and CNET obeyed? No. Heck, I might go so far as to allow myself to believe that Eidos' financial contributions were beyond the internal logic which led to Jeff's firing.

But CNET has not sufficiently explained its conduct in this fiasco. Where is the video review? Why was it removed? And how does an employee of 11 years get dumped so quickly and traumatically that the users feel as betrayed as I'm sure Jeff does?

Does this stink like rotten meat? You bet.