Cecilia D'Anastasio

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Cecilia D'Anastasio
Cecilia D'Anastasio - New York Game Awards 2019.jpg
D'Anastasio in 2019
Born (1991-07-22) July 22, 1991 (age 33)
Alma mater Reed College
OccupationJournalist
Years active2014–present
Known for Video game journalism

Cecilia D'Anastasio (born July 22, 1991) is an American journalist who primarily covers the video game industry. From 2016 to 2020, D'Anastasio wrote for Kotaku , and she was recognized for a 2018 article reporting allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination at Riot Games. Subsequently, she wrote for Wired magazine and joined Bloomberg News in 2022 to cover the video game industry.

Contents

Education and early career

Cecilia D'Anastasio was born on July 22, 1991. [1] [2] [3] She studied at Reed College, where she received a degree in classics. [4] D'Anastasio did freelance work for several publications, including The Nation . [5]

Career

At Kotaku

D'Anastasio joined Kotaku as a staff writer in June 2016, [6] focusing on investigative stories. [7]

Her article "Inside The Culture Of Sexism At Riot Games", published in August 2018, details allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination at Riot Games according to the accounts of twenty-eight current and former employees. [8] [9] Following its publication, current and former employees also shared their own experiences regarding workplace harassment on social media. [10] [11] On the day of the publication, Riot Games released a statement generally addressing its workplace culture, hiring practices, and diversity and inclusion program in response to the allegations detailed in the article. [12] Later that month, the company released a statement outlining its "first steps" towards addressing the allegations. [11] [13]

At the 71st Writers Guild of America Awards, D'Anastasio was presented with the Digital News award for the article. [14] Variety described the article as "the most important piece of games reporting of the year, and maybe even years", naming D'Anastasio as one of the "Most Influential in Video Games" for the year of 2018. [15] In the following year, the New York Videogame Critics Circle presented her with their "Knickerbocker Award for Best Games Journalism". [16] [17] D'Anastasio also made an appearance on Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj , where she spoke about labor issues in the video game industry and her investigative work on Riot Games. [18]

D'Anastasio left the publication in December 2019. [7]

At Wired

D'Anastasio was hired as a staff writer for Wired magazine in 2020. [19] In March, she received SXSW's inaugural Journalist of the Year award at the 2020 Gaming Awards for her "groundbreaking and influential" coverage of the video game industry. [20] In October, the magazine launched its Wired Games section, which covers the video game industry. The section features work written by various staff writers including D'Anastasio. [21] [22] Later that year, Forbes named her to its 30 Under 30 list in the media category. [23]

At Bloomberg News

After two years writing for Wired magazine, at the beginning of 2022 D'Anastasio joined Bloomberg News to cover the video game industry. [24]

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References

  1. ↑ "Forbes 30 Under 30". Forbes . 2020. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  2. ↑ D'Anastasio, Cecilia [@cecianasta] (July 22, 2015). "Today is my birthday, and as a gift, I'd be so appreciative if everyone could take a moment to think about the freelance economy" (Tweet). Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2024– via Twitter.
  3. ↑ D'Anastasio, Cecilia [@cecianasta] (October 6, 2018). "my first M:TG release event! at 27! wish me luck!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2024– via Twitter.
  4. ↑ "Meet Our Team". Wired . Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020. Cecilia graduated from Reed College with a degree in Classics...
  5. ↑ "Careers in Esports: Cecilia D'Anastasio, Staff Writer for Wired". North America Scholastic Esports Federation. October 29, 2020. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  6. ↑ Alexandra, Heather (September 12, 2016). "An Interview With Staff Writer Cecilia D'Anastasio". Kotaku . Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Park, Gene (April 16, 2020). "Jason Schreier is leaving Kotaku, citing G/O Media as reason". The Washington Post . Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  8. ↑ Fogel, Stefanie (August 7, 2018). "History of Sexism at Riot Games, Kotaku Reports". Variety . Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  9. ↑ Valens, Ana (August 7, 2018). "New report explores allegations of sexism at Riot Games". Dot Esports . Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  10. ↑ Asarch, Steven (August 9, 2018). "Riot Games employees have been vocal about their experiences regarding harassment on the job". Newsweek . Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  11. 1 2 Marshall, Cass (August 29, 2018). "Riot Games responds to toxic workplace allegations and reports". Polygon . Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  12. ↑ Stevens, Colin (August 8, 2018). "Riot Games Comments on Accusations of Sexist Culture at League of Legends Studio". IGN . Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  13. ↑ Grubb, Jeff (August 29, 2018). "League of Legends studio Riot promises to take steps to address sexism". VentureBeat . Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  14. ↑ Valentine, Rebekah (February 18, 2019). "Cecilia D'Anastasio wins Writers Guild of America Award". GamesIndustry.biz . Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  15. ↑ Winkie, Luke (December 31, 2018). "Most Influential in Video Games 2018: Esports Stars, Union Leaders, Iconic Indies". Variety . Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  16. ↑ Meitzler, Ryan (January 23, 2019). "The New York Game Awards Reveals 2019 Winners; God of War Earns the Top Prize". DualShockers. Archived from the original on January 23, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  17. ↑ Crecente, Brian (January 14, 2019). "New York Game Awards Journalism Noms Include Riot Games, Telltale Games Exposes". Variety . Archived from the original on January 14, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  18. ↑ Knoop, Joseph (August 4, 2019). "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj Season Premiere Tackles Games Industry Labor Issues". IGN . Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  19. ↑ Flynn, Kerry (September 8, 2020). "Bloomberg and The Washington Post are betting big on gaming. Here's why". CNN Business . Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  20. ↑ McAloon, Alissa (March 25, 2020). "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice named game of the year in 2020 SXSW Gaming Awards". Gamasutra . Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  21. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (August 27, 2020). "Wired launching new gaming sub-vertical". GamesIndustry.biz . Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  22. ↑ Henry, Alan (October 5, 2020). "Welcome to WIRED Games". Wired . Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  23. ↑ "Cecilia D'Anastasio". Forbes 30 Under 30 . Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  24. ↑ Roush, Chris (January 6, 2022). "Bloomberg hires D'Anastasio to cover gaming industry". Talking Biz News. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
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