The Dangers of Reporting Truth in MMA

The only outlet that can stand up to the UFC and win is ESPN.

Hope you weren’t calling me the nasty name. I’m a huge Dana White fan and supporter of Zuffa. (hard t tell, I know) But I just felt that this really needed to get this off my chest and gauge the public.

Cool. Yeah, Nothing negative is reported on ESPN.

Why do reporters need to be given front row seats to fights?

Why can’t reporters ask fighters questions before and after UFC events by contacting the fighters directly rather than having to go to press conferences?

On the other hand, I like. It’s bullshit that Dana kicks him out whenever he asks “bad” questions or makes “bad” points.

I just want to reiterate, I agree with the spirit of this post just not the evidence used to support the point.

Is that, in general, people and entities in MMA seem to have very thin skins, particularly with regard to critical (read: useful) press coverage. The UFC and Dana White get noticed for this because, as in all things, they are the biggest and most noticeable entity.

However, lots (perhaps most?) of organizations, promoters, managers and fighters seem to be unable to withstand any press scrutiny whatsoever. For that matter, one thing holding back the discourse from a fan perspective is that a majority of fans seem to have this weakness as well.

I think this phenomenon it’s present in many sports, but I have the distinct impression that MMA suffers from it most of all.

it is impossible for bias to not exist. As long as you have an opinion on something you are biased about it.

This isn’t a first amendment or freedom of speech issue at all. While cutting off any media outlet from special access to the UFC hurts their ability to report, the UFC has no legal obligation to provide them with special media access. The UFC isn’t preventing any media outlet from reporting any story, they are just letting them now this could affect future relations. While you can call this conniving and underhanded, it is in no ways illegal. The UFC is just doing what any other business does, deciding what they feel would be best for their bottom line and acting accordingly.

If the UFC wanted to cut off all special media coverage, then so be it, they would have to deal with effects of limited coverage and a backlash. If they allowed special access to everyone who asked, they would have to live with the possibility some outlets might write more negative coverage. Right now they’re walking a path in-between, understanding that pressing too hard could cause a backlash while making some effort to control their coverage.

Media outlets can choose between being soft on the UFC and getting full accesses or writing what they truly feel and getting limited access. Either way, it’s their choice, and they risk readership by either shying away from telling the full story every time or missing out on certain coverage.

But the ultimate power rest with the fans. They are the ones who choose whether to support or not support the ufc based on their practices, to read or not read a media source based on their practices, and whether having a purely objective and unbiased media with limited access is important enough for them to care about.

I personally expect a fairly objective reporting of mma, and think bloody elbow does a solid job of providing this. I get more mma information here than anywhere else. The site isn’t on Dana White’s speed dial but they don’tss that I’m not getting the full story, nor do I feel like they have an acrimonious relation. If this site started pitching fluff pieces only, I’d probably be done with it. But at the same time I understand that a massive number of people could care less either way. To get a large enough percentage of fans riled up about this enough to force the UFC to change anything would require the UFC to start using some fairly egregious business practices, something I’m guessing the UFC would be smart enough to avoid.

Whoah, a little puke came up into my mouth there? Mainstream journalists who paint their information sources in a bad light usually don’t get further information from those sources, and alot of the time, have a hard time keeping cred with future sources. Why do we expect Sherdog to be treated any differently? I am a regular reader of Sherdog, BE, UG, CP, Mania, and I won’t compare one to the other,(‘cause nuthin’ competes with BE anyway) but Sherdog has their cake, now they have to eat it. Don’t worry they’ll kiss’n makeup one day. There is too much money to be made.

Dana White and the UFC are under no obligation in any form to provide Bloody Elbow with access to anything that is a part of their promotion. Of course, they then have to accept the consequences for those decisions. By the same token, BE must also be aware that because they hand the sign “journalist” on their hat, that they are now owed some type of special access, even though the coverage is many times nothing more then shock articles meant to drive up hits. Therefore, BE has to stop whining like a little girl in a pink dress and get on with it. The UFC does not owe you a living. As a matter of fact, without the UFC, which appears to be the only organization throwing money into jurisdictional development and expansion, then BE would be in dire business loss. The relationship between the MMA promotion and the MMA press does not have to be full of love and roses, but it must also be remembered that one without the other makes life all that much difficult, if not impossible.
By the way, I have the sneaky suspicion, and that is all it is, that some of the most ardent defenders of BE as so-called defenders of MMA freedom against the tyranny of Dana White, have a far closer connection to BE then bad sig names ;) Just a suspicion of course. ;)

Silly stuff with inconsistent arguments that rely on the erronous premise that they are owed special access and consideration for no other reason that they have slapped the term journalist behind their name on a business card. UFC, and any other promotion, is not required to give squat to any journalist. Of course, they then must live with the consequences, but the operating premise of your argument that you are somehow owed access is in deep error.
As I wrote earlier, it is more an issue of whining like a little girl in pink dress then getting on with the business at hand. If it is too hard a business then try a different line of work where they hand you everything and all you have to do is sit there and judge other’s work while solemnly reciting that you criticize out of love and not out of an ability think of any other angle.

Sort of an odd issue for me here. I would love to see more/better MMA reporting but I also understand that this kind of stuff is a lot more common in sports than people think. ESPN doesn’t do much negative reporting on the NFL, why? Well it’s because they are broadcast partners with them, it’s in their own best interest to not be too negative too often or it may hurt their own network’s ratings. This is one of the strengths of the internet reporting media, they aren’t as tied to the sports as the tv networks are, of course the internet reporting media is still fairly young and getting news of anything off the internet is like getting a drink in the wild west. I used to be of the opinion that things would change with UFC reporting once the big dogs in sporting news got on board and had the leverage to not be intimidated by the UFC but then when that day comes the big doges in sporting news may also be in bed with the UFC in the same way they are in bed with the big three ball sports now too.

Of course anyone who brings up “free speech” as part of this arguement is an idiot, this has nothing at all to do with free speech or freedom of the press or anything like that. This is a discussion about some people getting free/press access in exchange for keeping a positive spin and some internet sites not getting press access due to issues with the company or just the plain fact that the UFC is picky who they give free/press access too. Heck the Sherdog issue has very little to do with freedom of anything at all it’s just that Dana White has a long long history of going back and forth and around and round with Jeff Sherwood and his site.

The dangers of reporting truth in MMA saying shit that pisses off the big players in MMA.

but try to work a bit on being more concise. Fewer words always makes for more powerful writing. But overall, I liked it.

there forums are well not as funny as here, here you got people postin picks there you got really just BAD troll jobs which isnt fun

i mainly go to here Jukie MMAfighting

You can still report the truth and not piss off DW and leaking TUF results thats not good thats how UFC became UFC its there golden child you dont fuck with that stuff

dude gives the best interviews.