Virtual Games Draw Real Crowds and Big Money · 31-08-2014 · porary mode of messaging to re-cruit...

VOL. CLXIII . . No. 56,610 © 2014 The New York Times NEW YORK, SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 2014

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Late Edition

By SCOTT SHANE and BEN HUBBARD

The extremists who haveseized large parts of Syria andIraq have riveted the world’s at-tention with their military prow-ess and unrestrained brutality.But Western intelligence servicesare also worried about their ex-traordinary command of seem-ingly less lethal weapons: state-of-the-art videos, ground imagesshot from drones and multilin-gual Twitter messages.

ISIS, the Islamic State in Iraqand Syria, is using every contem-porary mode of messaging to re-cruit fighters, intimidate enemiesand promote its claim to have es-tablished a caliphate, a unifiedMuslim state run according to astrict interpretation of Islamiclaw. If its bigotry and beheadingsseem to come from a distant cen-tury, its use of media is up to themoment.

A review of its prodigious out-put in print and online reveals anumber of surprises. ISIS propa-ganda, for instance, has striking-ly few calls for attacks on theWest, even though its most noto-rious video, among Americans,released 12 days ago, showed thebeheading of the American jour-nalist James Foley, threatenedanother American hostage, andsaid that American attacks onISIS “would result in the blood-shed” of Americans. This di-verged from nearly all of ISIS’svaried output, which promotes itsparamount goal: to secure andexpand the Islamic state. Expertssay that could change overnight,but for now it sharply distin-guishes ISIS from Al Qaeda,which has long made attacks onthe West its top priority.

And while ISIS may be built onbloodshed, it seems intent on

ISIS DISPLAYINGA DEFT COMMAND

OF VARIED MEDIA

DRAWING IN WESTERNERS

Trying to Show Acumen

in State-Building and

Bloodshed

Continued on Page 12

By JONATHAN MARTIN

WASHINGTON — With theirSenate majority imperiled, Dem-ocrats are trying to mobilize Afri-can-Americans outraged by theshooting in Ferguson, Mo., tohelp them retain control of atleast one chamber of Congressfor President Obama’s final twoyears in office.

In black churches and on blacktalk radio, African-American civ-ic leaders have begun invokingthe death of Michael Brown inFerguson, along with conserva-tive calls to impeach Mr. Obama,as they urge black voters to chan-nel their anger by voting Demo-cratic in the midterm elections, inwhich minority turnout is typi-cally lower.

“Ferguson has made it crystalclear to the African-Americancommunity and others that we’vegot to go to the polls,” said Repre-sentative John Lewis, Democratof Georgia and a civil-rights lead-er. “You participate and vote, andyou can have some control overwhat happens to your child andyour country.”

The push is an attempt to coun-ter Republicans’ many advan-tages in this year’s races, includ-ing polls that show Republicanvoters are much more engaged inthe elections at this point — animportant predictor of turnout.

Mr. Lewis is headlining effortsto mobilize black voters in sev-eral states with competitive Sen-ate races, including Arkansas,Louisiana and North Carolina.The drive is being organized bythe Congressional Black Caucus,in coordination with the Demo-cratic Senatorial Campaign Com-mittee. Other steps, such as re-cruiting N.B.A. players to helpregister more African-Ameri-cans, are also underway.

While Democrats always seek

AT RISK IN SENATE,DEMOCRATS SEEKTO RALLY BLACKS

MOVE TO CHANNEL ANGER

Invoking Ferguson and

Threats to Impeach

as Motivators

Continued on Page 16

By PATRICIA COHEN

While building up savings of-fers the best route out of poverty,the glamourless grind of sockingaway a dollar here and there hasa tough time competing with theheady fantasy of a Mega Millionsjackpot. But instead of attackinglotteries, a growing number ofcredit unions and nonprofitgroups are using them to encour-age low-income families to save.

They offer what are known asprize-linked savings accounts,which essentially treat every de-posit as a ticket in a prizewinningraffle. The idea is to offer thethrill of gambling without therisk. Even perennial losers keeptheir savings.

These accounts have won sup-port from a rare combination ofliberal poverty advocates andconservatives who like the pri-vate market-based approach andemphasis on personal responsi-

bility. In Congress, bills to modifyfederal banking laws and permitmore financial institutions to of-fer prize-linked accounts haveRepublican and Democratic co-sponsors. And several states, in-cluding Indiana, Connecticut andNew York, have modified theirbanking laws to allow credit un-ions to offer such programs.

The accounts make up a smallpart of the savings universe, but

they are slowly gaining traction.Doorways to Dream, a non-

profit organization based in Mas-sachusetts, helped start Save toWin in Michigan five years ago. Itis now the nation’s largest prize-linked savings program, havingspread to Nebraska, Washingtonand North Carolina. The programhas created 50,000 accounts thatsaved a total of $94 million, al-

Gambling Is the Bait. Savings Are the Jackpot.

SAVETOWIN.COM

Some winners in Save to Win, the nation’s largest prize-linkedsavings program, which they joined through their credit unions.

Continued on Page 4

By PAM BELLUCK

DUNDEE, N.Y. — Five yearsafter it exploded into a politicalconflagration over “death pan-els,” the issue of paying doctorsto talk to patients about end-of-life care is making a comeback,and such sessions may be cov-ered for the 50 million Americanson Medicare as early as nextyear.

Bypassing the political pro-cess, private insurers have begunreimbursing doctors for these“advance care planning” conver-sations as interest in them risesalong with the number of agingAmericans. People are livinglonger with illnesses, and manywant more input into how theywill spend their final days, includ-ing whether they want to die athome or in the hospital, andwhether they want full-fledgedlife-sustaining treatment, justpain relief or something in be-

tween. Some states, includingColorado and Oregon, recentlybegan covering the sessions forMedicaid patients.

But far more significant, Medi-care may begin covering end-of-life discussions next year if it ap-proves a recent request from theAmerican Medical Association,the country’s largest associationof physicians and medical stu-dents. One of the A.M.A.’s roles isto create billing codes for medicalservices, codes used by doctors,hospitals and insurers. It recent-ly created codes for end-of-lifeconversations and submittedthem to Medicare.

The Centers for Medicare and

Medicaid Services, which runsMedicare, would not discusswhether it will agree to coverend-of-life discussions; its deci-sion is expected this fall. But theagency often adopts A.M.A. rec-ommendations, which are devel-oped in meetings attended by itsrepresentatives. And the politicalenvironment is less toxic than itwas when the “death panel” labelwas coined; although there arestill opponents, there are moreproponents, including Republi-can politicians.

If Medicare adopts the change,its decision will also set thestandard for private insurers, en-couraging many more doctors toengage in these conversations.

“We think it’s really importantto incentivize this kind of care,”said Dr. Barbara Levy, chair-woman of the A.M.A. committeethat submits reimbursement rec-ommendations to Medicare. “Theidea is to make sure patients and

Coverage for End-of-Life Talks Gaining Ground

Medical Planning Once

Decried as ‘Death

Panels’

Continued on Page 21

Johnny Manziel brings hope to Brownsfans, the Giants have a new look on of-fense, and Eric Decker brings his small-town roots to the Jets. PAGE 1

SPORTSSUNDAY

N.F.L. Preview Maureen Dowd PAGE 11

SUNDAY REVIEW

U(D5E71D)x+%!,!/!=![

By NICK WINGFIELD

SEATTLE — A bewitching creature —half woman, half deer — battles a shamanand a sentient tree. Lightning bolts strike.Weapons explode. Nasty spells are cast.

The video game Dota 2, like so manyacross the Internet, transports teams ofplayers from their bedrooms to a verdantvirtual world where they smite each otherthrough keyboard and mouse clicks. Ex-cept on this sunny day in July, every at-tack and counterattack by a five-personteam set off an eruption of cheers — fromthe more than 11,000 spectators crammedinto this city’s basketball arena.

The contestants were gunning for a bigpiece of the $11 million in total prizemoney, the most ever at a games tourna-ment. And the game’s developer, the ValveCorporation, moved another step closer tosecuring gaming’s legitimacy as a major-league spectator sport.

Having already upended the entertain-ment world — global revenue for games is$20 billion higher than the music indus-try’s and is chasing that of the movie busi-ness — the games industry has turned itsambitions toward the lucrative world ofprofessional video game competition,widely known as e-sports.

The signs of success already mirror theachievements of major sports. Game tour-naments sell out giant arenas, and someattract at-home audiences larger thanthose of top traditional sporting events.Madison Avenue’s highest fliers, likeCoca-Cola and American Express, havelined up as sponsors. Prize money hassoared to the millions of dollars, and topplayers earn six- or seven-figure incomesand attract big and passionate followings,luring a generation of younger players to

seek fame and fortune as gamers.Last year, the State Department began

granting visas to professional gamers, un-der the same program used by traditionalathletes. This fall, Robert Morris Universi-ty in Chicago will dole out over $500,000 inathletic scholarships to gamers, the first oftheir kind in the United States, and IvyLeague universities have intercollegiategaming. Last week, the web giant Amazonannounced it was buying Twitch, a hugelypopular video streaming service used bygamers, for $970 million in cash.

“This stuff is expanding out of control,”said James Lampkin, a product managerfor ESL (for Electronic Sports League),one of the biggest e-sports leagues, whichhad 73,000 attendees at a four-day tourna-ment in Katowice, Poland, in March. “Wehave no idea what the limits are.”

Game competitions have been aroundfor decades, but what was happening atthat arena in July would have been un-thinkable, even laughable, only a fewyears ago. As broadband Internet accessand free-to-play games have spread, gam-ing competitions have multiplied in sizeand frequency around the world, going be-yond early strongholds like South Korea.

At the Seattle event, cheering fans,

Virtual Games Draw Real Crowds and Big Money

PHOTOGRAPHS BY STUART ISETT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

A video game tournament in Seattle in July. Pro gaming, called e-sports, is becoming a lucrative worldwide spectator sport.

Continued on Page 18

POWER UP

Entering the Big Leagues

Organizers hope to get thesmall city’s black majority toshow its political clout. Page 12.

A Voter Drive in Ferguson

The president of Ukraine said Russia’scampaign of “military aggression andterror” against his country threatenedEurope’s stability. PAGE 8

INTERNATIONAL 6-13

Ukraine Warns EuropeMichael Sam, who became the firstopenly gay player drafted in the N.F.L.when he was taken in the seventh round,was one of the team’s final cuts. PAGE 1

Rams Release Gay PlayerAn experimental drug prolonged thelives of people with heart failure andcould replace the treatment that hasbeen the norm for 20 years. PAGE 4

NATIONAL 4, 14-21

Heart Drug Effective in Trial

HOSTAGE BEHEADED ISIS took 19Lebanese soldiers hostage, killingone of them. PAGE 13

U.S. AIRSTRIKES American forcesattacked ISIS militants besieginga town in Iraq’s north. PAGE 12

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