So a few nerds decided to get on their internet high horse over Anime News Network covering new shows airing in Japan. You know, something that might actually be considered within ANN’s job description.
Their main argument is that they shouldn’t be doing this because the only way that they could be covering this is via fansubs and a “professional” site shouldn’t be doing it. What numpties.
When Dave Meltzer covers wrestling throughout the world, does he get all of this footage through legit means? No, people send him tapes. Do music journalists refuse to review records that haven’t had all their samples cleared? No. For instance the NME gave The Grey Album a full page review and an interview with Dangermouse. Not to mention all the coverage given Soulwax and Girl Talk. And so on. Did all film journalists refuse to discuss or review the leaked Wolverine movie? No. Being professional doesn’t necessary mean you have to live some sort of pure and “ethical” existence. If they want to be the premier news source for anime, and not just the US anime market, then this is something they have to do.
It doesn’t matter how ANN see these shows, only that they do see them, because it’s relevant to what is going on in the world of the subject their site is orientated around. Sure, it’d be nice if they had a person in Japan to watch the shows and/or video them for them, but the mechanics of how they do it really don’t matter, so ignore the person behind the curtain.
They aren’t actively encouraging fansubs, they are providing coverage of the latest happenings in Japan. If it leads to someone downloading a fansub because of the review, that’s not their fault, it’s the fault of person doing the downloading. It’s not like the words of Carl Kimlinger & friends have some sort of Derren Brown power of suggestion on the readers of the site.
Too often I think people want Anime News Network to be an industry cheerleader rather than an online news & review site. It’s not helped that the site sometimes tries be just that, nor by the fact it is streaming anime shows on the site, but really that may be a financial necessity for advertising revenue. Just because the site is itself occasionally unsure of what it should be, doesn’t mean you should lose sight of what it is at its core. Nor how journalism works outside the anime bubble.
Though it’d be nice if their worldview of anime extended beyond the US, Japan and Australia a little more often…