Journalist and founder of KORIZON, Ashley Kang, spoke about the pressure from the T1 team following the publication of a critical article.
According to her, after the release of a piece about a private Discord channel with paid content and controversial photos of player Oner, she was excluded from interviews with the team at the Worlds 2022 and MSI 2024 tournaments. The interview with Kang was released on April 5, 2024, on Kim Sun Hwe's YouTube channel. It was translated by a user on Reddit under the nickname XanIrelia-1 and may contain errors.
Ashley Kang shared her experience of facing T1 after writing an article that criticized the team.
In the article, she covered the scandal surrounding a private Discord channel that featured a paid content update, including controversial photos of Oner, which sparked a negative reaction among Korean fans. After the article's publication, Ashley's access to interviews with the team was revoked, and T1 's PR avoided giving clear explanations, continuously postponing meetings and providing vague answers. Ashley claims this decision was a result of her criticism, and she believes that honest journalism requires covering controversial situations. She confirms that she was excluded from interviews during the 2022 World Championship and MSI 2024, while other outlets were granted access. Despite Riot's intervention, Ashley states that the issue is not just about access but about protecting the integrity of esports journalism.
After publishing the article criticizing T1 , Ashley Kang faced consequences: she was blacklisted and had her access to interviews restricted. But the situation escalated further.
Joe Marsh, CEO of T1 , admitted that the decision to block her was made personally by him, which shocked Ashley because she was merely reporting facts. She argued that honest journalism involves covering controversial situations, and suppressing such stories only harms the scene. Marsh apologized for the incident, but the team's actions towards Ashley were a clear act of retaliation: she received a minimal number of interviews compared to other media. Ashley emphasized that her work was aimed at informing fans and explained that T1 's PR could have provided the necessary context or directed her to Joe for clarification.
Following an article about a DDoS attack on T1 in 2024, Ashley Kang again faced pressure to apologize from the team, leading to her isolation from the media community.
Ashley Kang explained how the demand for apologies in exchange for access to information puts journalists in a position where they start avoiding the truth to maintain relationships with teams. This leads to self-censorship and turns them into "company journalists." She stressed that if she agreed to this, the purpose of her work would be lost.
In 2024, after she wrote an article about T1 's DDoS attack issues, the situation repeated. Although other media covered the same incident, only Ashley faced a demand for apologies from T1 , or else her access would be revoked again. She perceived this pressure as an attempt at psychological manipulation. Ashley continued to apply for interviews, but she was always rejected, ultimately leading to a complete lack of access after MSI 2024.
Ashley Kang shared her internal conflict and decision to speak out publicly against T1 , despite potential personal and legal consequences, emphasizing the importance of press freedom and honest journalism.
Ashley Kang reflects on the difficulty of deciding to speak out publicly, despite potential career consequences. For her, maintaining her journalistic identity is more important, even if it means losing access to interviews. She criticizes T1 's PR strategy for suppressing reasonable questions and believes that such methods only fuel rumors.
Ashley fears that the consequences could be not only professional but also legal due to defamation laws in Korea . Despite this, she continues to support freedom of expression and believes that players should have the opportunity to speak openly.
Ashley Kang shared her thoughts on the possible consequences of the conflict with T1 and emphasized that for her, it is more important to remain honest and ethical, even if it leads to further isolation.
Ashley Kang outlines three possible outcomes: in the best case, T1 will start treating her fairly; in the average case, she will remain blacklisted but come to terms with it; in the worst case, she will be attacked or completely pushed out of the media space. Despite this, she decides to continue her work, even if the consequences are harsh. For her, maintaining her ethics and professionalism is more important than access. Past events with Joe Marsh hurt her as a journalist and as a person, and she felt she had to speak up.
After the conflict, Ashley received support from Riot and was able to resume interviews with T1 players, although her access is still limited. She emphasizes that if she had agreed to compromises for the sake of survival, it would have destroyed her as a journalist.
The host discusses cultural differences in the perception of "blacklisting" in Korea and English-speaking countries and notes that many journalists feel pressure and fear of reprisals from organizations but are afraid to speak out. T1 did not respond, despite requests for a response.
