The CTA Versus GTA - Chicago Taxpayers Lose

Wow, a story involving junk journalism, Chicago, games and controversy? I'm in.

GamePolitics gives the rundown on the CTA banning GTA IV ads off their buses. Apparently city policy is now being dictated by Fox News as they have determined the ads for the game to be unfit for public consumption after Fox rather loosely tries to link the ads to a rather violent weekend here in the city.

And by loosely - allow me be to be specific. I mean not at all. Not once during the news broadcast does Fox news offer a single fact or heck, even a hastily thrown together statistic, to link the ads to any actual negative activity in the city. Fox offers no proof whatsoever that the ads have any effect at all.

Instead, they bitch and moan a lot about how much possible revenue the CTA might be making off these games. Which is kind of an odd thing to get up in the CTA's grill for considering they've spent the last eighteen months begging the state for cash.

So in other words, Fox News and the CTA would rather raise your property taxes than have your kids see a couple people portrayed in cartoon form in a lineup.

About the only "evidence" Fox offers, other than a few oddly edited man on the street interviews, is Blagojevich talking at some length about what he thinks of video games. Of course, the real punchline to this whole thing, is that Fox naturally leaves out the fact that our dear governor cost us a million and a half in legal fees fighting his fight - only to lose to a small thing called the Constitution of the United States in the end. His fight cost the people of Illinois funds from public health, welfare and economic development.

There's no morality here. The CTA, CTA riders and the taxpayers of Chicago have lost out here again. And if people like Fox and Blagojevich were to have their way, we would continue to lose a lot more in a frivolous and meaningless battle.

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