“Is there some kind of medical term for this?” asked a forum poster on Poe News this morning. “Is it just a symptom of general technophobia to perceive the dangers of pedophilia on any non closed circuit device?… Sitting there in the middle of your living room, staring at some device and saying to yourself ‘Okay… but can some guys pick up little kiddies with it?’ just doesn’t seem normal to me.”

The medical term is “local television reporter,” and today we have another excellent case study.

The story in question is essentially a single-source story, a piece relying on only one person for information, which is a major no-no in journalism circles. (I say “essentially” because the story also quotes two mothers as being scared, fulfilling both the need for multiple sources and the need for the “community voice” mandated by local journalism. This is a common dodge for getting a story past an editor without adding any real substance to it.)

Here’s the source:

“Kids are playing games, and they are being asked to take photos of themselves naked in order to get game points,” Florida Attorney General Cybercrime Detective Lt. David Maurer said. “There is not only the chatting version of the games but also a webcam involved.”

I may have mentioned this before, but whenever you see someone talking about players being manipulated into doing something “for points” you can safely assume they don’t know what they’re talking about. While modern games have complex progress indicators, “points” have largely gone the way of the dodo as more plot-driven games have ridden in on the back of modern technology. They’re an artifact of ’80s quarter munching arcade cabinets, and they only really appear in modern games that seek to emulate or put a new twist on that era. (Ikaruga would be a good example of the latter.)

As an analogy, imagine if someone introduced himself as a NASA rocket scientist, then started talking about his work on trebuchets.

There are, of course, no actual examples of this chatting-version-webcam-game-photo-pedophilia situation happening in real life. Instead, we go right to this:

Some of the most popular games are “Halo 3,” “Call Of Duty,” “Final Fantasy” and “Grand Theft Auto,” Forbes reported.

…and all of which are games in which it would be highly difficult if not impossible for you to take a naked picture of yourself. In fact, you would have an extremely difficult time contacting nubile young boys through the largely offline Final Fantasy series. (By the way, that’s not Forbes the magazine, that’s Donald Forbes the television reporter. Sure, the reporter can be a source. Why not?)

Looking for answers on just what on earth the reporter was trying to describe, Kotaku readers have been sending out e-mails. Here’s the response one got.

The Agent in charge of the Cybercrime unit for the State Attorney of Florida is quoted as saying “”kids are playing the games and they are being asked to take photos of themselves naked in order to get game points.” I believe he was referring to some of the fantasy games where players go on quests to be awarded points and different levels.

(As these quests are not set by players, it would be difficult for a pedo to create one that says “Send a picture of your winky to this email address for 100 points.”)

I personally am not a “gamer” so I have not encountered such a problem. But feel free to call the cybercrimes unit of the state attorney’s office in Tallahassee and I’m sure they could fill you in. Thanks for your questions and concerns.

…which is reporterese for “Look, I’m overworked and underpaid. I know I didn’t put any critical thought into it, but I just wanted to get it done and go home. Now I’m getting called on it, and I’m not really comfortable with this.”

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