Editor Corgi does not approve.

You know a reporter might just be biased when he opens an article with, “Councilman Nelson Crabb’s association with gore and violence has spread into the virtual world of violent online gaming.”  So what was Crabb’s association with gore and violence before it spread online?  Well, he’s a retired police officer, which, I guess, associates him with gore and violence.  Great reporting.  And what’s this virtual world of violent online gaming?  We can’t even make this up: Mafia Wars.  Yes, the Facebook game that has no animation and manages to somehow be about as boring as Farmville is a source of outrage for California newspaper Merced Sun-Star.

In an article that obviously consisted of a reporter looking at somebody’s Facebook updates trying to find an excuse to be outraged and an editor not paying attention, here are a few of the gems their investigative report uncovered:

In the game “Mafia Wars,” Crabb has many titles. He’s a “cold blooded” killer, a “Street Thug,” a “Master Burglar” and a “robber” in the game. Crabb also partakes in “icing” people, and as of June 23, his body count is up to 1,159, according to posts on his Facebook wall. The posts on Crabb’s Facebook wall don’t show blood and gore, but some descriptions of game activity are graphic. “Nelson helped Michael Dispose of a Body and wants you to help too,” according to an April 17 post on Crabb’s Facebook wall. [Merced Sun-Star via Geekosystem]

Did this reporter get busted by the retired cop for drinking underage?  Nothing about that article makes sense.  Amazingly, this ridiculous non-story ran on the front page of the Saturday edition, which Wikipedia claims has a circulation of over twenty thousand.  We hope at least a few hundred of them called up the paper and asked, “What the hell were you thinking?” if they weren’t too busy fragging some n00bs in Call of Duty.

[Inset pic via Superpoop]