I have uncovered the anonymous "sources" mentioned by Lizzy from Escapist...they are posts on Glassdoor.

Quotes taken literally word for word. Trolls will be trolls, what can you do?

https://www.glassdoor.com.au/Reviews/Cloud-Imperium-Games-Reviews-E776546.htm?filter.employmentStatus=REGULAR&filter.employmentStatus=PART_TIME&filter.employmentStatus=UNKNOWN

Update: FYI, anyone can post on Glassdoor, there is no verification process.

Update 2: Interestingly enough, all these 1-star negative reviews were posted this week. The ones that were heavily quoted were posted on 9/26 and 9/28. HMM...?

Update 3: Per request, I have included screenshots. http://imgur.com/a/xXyaC

Keep in mind that all of the other reviews were months apart. Then suddenly, 5 in the same week while 2 articles are published :)

Update 4: To be clear, I have no evidence that Lizzy posted these reviews herself. I just find the whole timeline of events to be suspicious. First, Lizzy's first article "Eject! Eject!...." came out this week on 9/25 and went largely unnoticed. Next, there are reviews being posted everyday this week on Glassdoor through 9/28. Finally, she posts a new article today on 10/1, citing these very recent reviews posted this week, exacerbating the allegations in her first article. If she was fact checking these sources or verifying these sources, she would have had less than 48 hours for the 9/28 source.

Update 5: So I took a look at Glassdoor and its accounts system and I see that there is NO private message system. Personal information is hidden by design to protect user anonymity. How did Lizzy verify or follow-up with any of these sources she is quoting???

Update 6: A few people still seem to be defending the original article. I would recommend you read a proper piece of investigative journalism with REAL names, REAL quotes, REAL interviews, REAL citations and look at the contrast: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html

Update 7: Apparently a user in /r/DerekSmart had posted a fake review a few days ago to poke fun at Derek Smart for citing Glassdoor: http://imgur.com/a/ibumO Did others make copy-cat reviews?

Update 8: Yes, I'm aware she cited 7 different anonymous sources titled CS1-CS7, and only a couple of instances match up with Glassdoor (though with direct quotes word for word). Are there perhaps 2 or 3 legitimate anonymous sources? Who knows, but it only takes one bad source to discredit an article.

Update 9: Some users have taken to questioning my motives. I simply want the truth. The ball is now back in the Escapist's court. I hope they will go back, double-check and triple-check their sources, and ask if any sources will step forward and allow their real names to be used. Until that happens, I will remain skeptical.

There are very serious allegations laid out in the article, and at least one of these sources need to own up to what they have said if they truly care about protecting the Star Citizen community as well as their former co-workers. Look at the New York Time's article on Amazon as an example. Could you imagine how it would read if every source's name was replaced by vague monikers and people were able to find said quotes through Google search?

Update 10: Signing off for the night. Hopefully the Escapist will give the community a proper response tomorrow.

Update 11: A user kindly linked me to some unofficial responses on Twitter. According to Liz's timeline and her recent tweets, after her 9/25 article, she was able to vet these sources on 9/26 and interview them on 9/27. She also seems to emphasize the fact that many of the things said are "alleged". Sorry to keep beating a dead horse (US idiom), but when I Ctrl+F the New York Times article on Amazon, "alleged" shows up a grand total of ZERO times.

https://twitter.com/s0osleepie/status/649928850328166400 (Correction: this is the Twitter account of the Editor-in-Chief of Escapist)

Update 12: Lizzy and/or Derek have claimed two of their sources originally offered to reveal their identity, and the Escapist is simply protecting their identity and careers. If you really think FORMER employees that blow the whistle on actual illegal misconduct such as racial profiling and fraud would be targeted and shunned by the industry, you are wrong. I can see why an ACTIVE employee that blows the whistle would be disliked, even though there are US laws that unequivocally protect against retaliation to whistleblowers. Regardless, these two sources want to come forward, so please let them!

Update 13: Some users believe only anon CS1 is tied to the Glassdoor reviews. No, I believe anon CS3 and CS5 are also directly contaminated by the Glassdoor reviews. A reddit user was kind enough to highlight the offensive parts and share them with me: http://imgur.com/cGTiEFj

When at least 3 out of 7 anonymous sources appear to be discreditable, how can I take the article seriously??

Update 14: I re-read both articles again this morning. As far as I can tell, the only confirmed sources between both articles are Derek Smart and David Jennison's leaked letter.

Update 15: Server admin "Kross" at Escapist claims that Defy Media lawyers vetted the source who wrote about the racial hiring practices ie "...PTSD" glassdoor post.

Update 16: A reddit user has informed me that Janelle (the EiD) has a law degree and is in good BAR standing ...is she one of the lawyers that vetted the sources?

Update 17: Clear bias here in the title of Escapist's latest article: "BattleTech Kicks Butt, Reaches Kickstarter Goal in 53 Minutes".

And FYI, I backed the project within the first two hours of its KS campaign because I also trust the developers that made Shadowrun Returns, despite its flaws. I have no idea why Escapist are trying to compare the two projects, they are different games entirely. I recommend not reading the latest article, and going to Kickstarter directly to check out a cool turn-based sci-fi project! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/webeharebrained/battletech

Update 18: Comment from Jason Schrier of Kotaku on Neogaf: https://archive.is/NLgJm

Update 19: ONUS PROBANDI - "The burden of the proof. It is a general rule, that the party who alleges the affirmative of any proposition shall prove it."

Update 20: I've been made aware that Lizzy is actually not an Escapist staff member, and instead is a contributing author. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/content/about

Update 21: Escapist's policy on sources per their Ethics Policy page: "Before writing about allegations, use best efforts to secure more than one source. The source could be original screenshots we've taken of the posts in question, or gathered from reputable websites or newspapers, or other reasonable sources."

Update 22: Society of Professional Journalists on the Issue of Anonymous Sources: http://www.spj.org/ethics-papers-anonymity.asp

Update 23: Official response from Escapist Editor-in-Chief: All sources were vetted to some degree, some of these sources posted the reviews on Glassdoor afterwards. 3 of the 7 were visually vetted over Skype. No discussion of anonymity vs. biases/motives. Lizzy was the primary point of contact and sole interviewer.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/14727-The-Escapist-Explains-Its-Star-Citizen-Sources-Vetting-and-Respo

Update 24: Regardless of the veracity of the official response from Escapist (ie. the infamous spam folder excuse), I believe we have made quite a bit of progress as a community. Escapist plans on doing office visits and interviews, which will ultimately give us a more complete picture of the situation without having trolls and unknown sources interfering with all of their biases (I highly recommend reading the SPJ link on Update 22).