In response to the storm of attention swirling around the firing of Jeff Gerstmann from Gamespot, the site's parent company, CNET Networks, released a very brief statement on the situation today.
"GameSpot takes its editorial integrity extremely seriously," the statement reads. "For over a decade, Gamespot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community. At CNET Networks, we stand behind the editorial content that our teams produce on a daily basis."
As for Gerstmann specifically, CNET was less forthcoming, saying only that "it is CNET Networks' policy not to comment on the status of its employees, current or former."
If this is CNET's idea of damage control, it strikes me as pretty hollow. They seem to want everyone to respect their 'editorial integrity', but they say nothing in response to allegations they allowed an advertiser to dictate editorial content. A statement like this may have an effect opposite the one CNET intended. They may have been better off simply remaining mute on the subject, in essence taking the stance that they are above suspicion. Instead, they only further confirmed that their integrity is in question.
I suspect we'll hear more about this next week.
