MMA Media

[FrankieNYC]

I tend to agree with most of this, journalism as historically known is dead. Today most of these guys are nothing more than bloggers. Covering a few events here for the site, I've seen it first hand. The complaining about access, not the right seats, and so on. Watching these bigger name guys on their phones during the fights drives me crazy. I myself am certainly a fanboy of MMA and thats my angle. Heck if you didn't know I won a contest that named me the biggest mma fan through HBO sports. The UFC vp twitter account calls me the GOAT fan. Although I've been named journalist of the year here the last couple years, I know my place. There is nothing more in this world that I enjoy more than the fight game and in the last couple years getting to share my historical experiences has been fun. I'm currently working on a few different possible ways to get more involved. Tonight I'll be doing a tune up podcast with @Carbazel , that we hope to launch soon and produce weekly. So layoff the fanboy bashing, cause one day I might be the one balling my eyes out on FS1

Excellent stuff & I look towards hearing the podcast!

 

[FrankieNYC]

In my opinion journalists report the news without personal opinion. They provide facts and information and let the reader / viewer decide on their own opinion.

I think of Ariel as the TMZ of mma. He tries to work angles and emotion on every story he breaks. He has the connections but plays up the drama at every turn. I’m not denying or knocking his ability to get scoops, but the manner in which he presents them to the public.

I tend to agree, but I think it is fine to have an opinion on the news you report.
My issue with a lot of "MMA media" & nu-media in general, is a lot of stuff seems to be reported with an agenda/slant/spin

 

[Andrewsimar Palhardass]

In my opinion journalists report the news without personal opinion. They provide facts and information and let the reader / viewer decide on their own opinion.

I think of Ariel as the TMZ of mma. He tries to work angles and emotion on every story he breaks. He has the connections but plays up the drama at every turn. I’m not denying or knocking his ability to get scoops, but the manner in which he presents them to the public.

I can see that, but again I feel that it's exaggerated when people use it to say that he isn't a journalist, or even a good one. Even Meltzer includes his opinion. Ariel is called a UFC shill for not criticizing the promotion enough, and simultaneously he is criticized for injecting his opinion (which frequently is not kind to the powers that be at the UFC). He can't win in either direction.

 

[Zeph]

In my opinion journalists report the news without personal input. They provide facts and information and let the reader / viewer decide on their own opinion.

I think of Ariel as the TMZ of mma. He tries to work angles and emotion on every story he breaks. He has the connections but plays up the drama at every turn. I’m not denying or knocking his ability to get scoops, but the manner in which he presents them to the public.

That's impossible. Bias is introduced just by what 'facts' and news they choose to report in the first place.

 

[Onetrickpony]

I can see that, but again I feel that it's exaggerated when people use it to say that he isn't a journalist, or even a good one. Even Meltzer includes his opinion. Ariel is called a UFC shill for not criticizing the promotion enough, and simultaneously he is criticized for injecting his opinion (which frequently is not kind to the powers that be at the UFC). He can't win in either direction.

I’m not discrediting him as a journalist. Ariel isn’t doing anything that every major news site isn’t participating in, and sadly it seems to be the best way to get attention. Unfortunately, now people seem to want to be told what their opinion should be.

Honestly, I’m just pining for the old days when reporting was not biased but sadly those days seem to be gone.

 

[Onetrickpony]

That's impossible. Bias is introduced just by what 'facts' and news they choose to report in the first place.

I agree, but the reporter has an opportunity to keep that to a minimum not push others towards the conclusion they see fit.

 

[Zeph]

I agree, but the reporter has an opportunity to keep that to a minimum not push others towards the conclusion they see fit.

It's an unconscious decision. People don't even realize they are doing it a lot of the time.

 

[Onetrickpony]

It's an unconscious decision. People don't even realize they are doing it a lot of the time.

I will disagree with you there. Look at old news reports and there was no slant.

This pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject.

 

[Zeph]

I will disagree with you there. Look at old news reports and there was no slant.

This pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject.

I'm pretty sure you used to have different regulations for news on TV, but in the 80s the republicans relaxed what you could report as fact and then Fox News was born. After that everyone had to change to keep viewers.

 

[Onetrickpony]

I'm pretty sure you used to have different regulations for news on TV, but in the 80s the republicans relaxed what you could report as fact and then Fox News was born. After that everyone had to change to keep viewers.

I was born in 77 so I still remember news being news not opinion based reporting.

It got much, much worse after TMZ’s reporting style became increasingly popular thus incredibly viable. Report to the level of the lowest denominator for the highest ratings.

 

[aghof]

That is one thing I would definitely criticize about him- he does stir shit. I do think it is a bit exaggerated by some, but he is guilty of it.

He still breaks news on Twitter all the time prior to it being released, and I personally have never seen him break something that wasn't true without the caveat that it wasn't confirmed or official. I could have missed some, though.
FRB is definitely not a journalist, as he just throws shit against the wall to see if it sticks, but I think Helwani overall does a great job. I wouldn't put them in the same category at all.

FRB sometimes gets credit for things like 'breaking' news of the Jones car crash in Albuquerque, which was an event a handful of people already knew about and was inevitably going to be 'broken' in the next few hours anyway. He was just the first one shameless enough to blurt it out to the public at large.

That has about nothing in common with a real hardcore journalist researching and bearing down on an issue to bring out information that the public (and sometimes even government and law enforcement officials) would have never learned...

 

[Wild]

Thanks brother.
I am back to work for the first time in 5 months, so I will likely be on here more. During my leave I had access to video games and porn all day so you guys kinda took a backseat.

Completely understand.

 

[Enock-O-Lypse Now!]

Re: Nick The Tooth/Ariel
I re-read what @Andrewsimar Palhardass quoted (before i deleted) & realized some might not know.

Supposedly Ariel's hook up for the Brock/200 info was Dana's friend "Nick The Tooth".
The next day Nick was fired from "Looking For a Fight" & replaced by Din Thomas out of nowhere. They were already filming an episode.
Weird that the rumor was it was Nick & within hours Dana fired & cut off a log-time friend & Ariel had less & less scoops since.

This was the next episode where they reference Ariel & replaced Nick

I remember when all that went down ...makes a lot of sense now. Solid post Frankie.

 

[FrankieNYC]

I remember when all that went down ...makes a lot of sense now. Solid post Frankie.

Thanks
Full disclosure: I heard it was Nick ASAP, but did not believe it until months later when the episode came out & he was gone & they did re-shoots. Add in AH has less "scoops" now & it might be true

 

[Yossarian]

and also perhaps a "broadcast journalist" though nowhere near this league:

RIP

 

[MyrddinWild]

Re: Nick The Tooth/Ariel
I re-read what @Andrewsimar Palhardass quoted (before i deleted) & realized some might not know.

Supposedly Ariel's hook up for the Brock/200 info was Dana's friend "Nick The Tooth".
The next day Nick was fired from "Looking For a Fight" & replaced by Din Thomas out of nowhere. They were already filming an episode.
Weird that the rumor was it was Nick & within hours Dana fired & cut off a log-time friend & Ariel had less & less scoops since.

This was the next episode where they reference Ariel & replaced Nick

Well that's interesting, I recall at the time they made it out like Nick quit due to them continuing to not be up front with him. The main thing was that he was disgruntled when him & Serra rolled with some BJJ, & he wasn't warmed up & wasn't even told they were going to roll ahead of time but everyone else knew. He wasn't concerned with getting beat though... his main concern was that he was wearing his school's shirt during the match & he felt like they duped him into looking bad. He gave them a final warning after that to keep him in the loop & let him know what was going on... but the tazer incident was what they said was the final straw.

They hit him with the tazer from the top to the bottom which went through his whole body & put him down big time... compared to the others who just got tazed with the prongs closer together & so the shock didn't effect them as hard. Him & Dana had an argument about whether they did it on purpose & Nick ended up leaving.

That's the official story.

So all that may be true, & he was disgruntled... but I expect they allowed him to use that as the reason he left the show instead of blowing it up that he slipped information. Could go both ways though... Maybe they were pissed that he slipped info but that wasn't like a final straw sort of thing & it's true that he quit. I don't know.... I just remember the incident & so I thought I'd spell out what they were saying about it. This is the first I heard about him slipping info.

 

[FrankieNYC]

Well that's interesting, I recall at the time they made it out like Nick quit due to them continuing to not be up front with him. & not the next day The main thing was that he was disgruntled when him & Serra rolled with some BJJ, & he wasn't warmed up & wasn't even told they were going to roll ahead of time but everyone else knew. He wasn't concerned with getting beat though... his main concern was that he was wearing his school's shirt during the match & he felt like they duped him into looking bad. He gave them a final warning after that to keep him in the loop & let him know what was going on... but the tazer incident was what they said was the final straw.

They hit him with the tazer from the top to the bottom which went through his whole body & put him down big time... compared to the others who just got tazed with the prongs closer together & so the shock didn't effect them as hard. Him & Dana had an argument about whether they did it on purpose & Nick ended up leaving.

That's the official story.

So all that may be true, & he was disgruntled... but I expect they allowed him to use that as the reason he left the show instead of blowing it up that he slipped information. Could go both ways though... Maybe they were pissed that he slipped info but that wasn't like a final straw sort of thing & it's true that he quit. I don't know.... I just remember the incident & so I thought I'd spell out what they were saying about it. This is the first I heard about him slipping info.

He started filming the episode already that I mentioned & was advertised for The Laugh Factory
They had to do re-shoots to add Din & edit him out
He didn't just quit after an early episode
He was with the show the day of UFC 119 & not the next day

 

[Wild]

Re: Nick The Tooth/Ariel
I re-read what @Andrewsimar Palhardass quoted (before i deleted) & realized some might not know.

Supposedly Ariel's hook up for the Brock/200 info was Dana's friend "Nick The Tooth".
The next day Nick was fired from "Looking For a Fight" & replaced by Din Thomas out of nowhere. They were already filming an episode.
Weird that the rumor was it was Nick & within hours Dana fired & cut off a log-time friend & Ariel had less & less scoops since.

This was the next episode where they reference Ariel & replaced Nick

That totally makes sense now but I didn’t put two and two together at the time. The rumors were Dana was pissed that Nick dumped him out of the canoe into freezing water on an episode, but that seems petty even for Dana.

 

[FrankieNYC]

That totally makes sense now but I didn’t put two and two together at the time. The rumors were Dana was pissed that Nick dumped him out of the canoe into freezing water on an episode, but that seems petty even for Dana.

The thing is, they started filming the episode already. something abrupt happened for them to do re-shoots & bring in Dim on hours notice.
That doesn't seem like a calculated decision, but more of a "WTF DID YOU DO?"
I heard that rumor immediately, but thought nothing of it until more 'coincidences' came out
Plus the fact Ariel has a lot less scoops now (he was almost weekly back then), gives it some possible credence.

What we know:

• Nick was part of the series on June 4th & backstage at UFC 199
• Helwani was backstage at UFC 199
• Helwani was backstage when he tweeted the Brock spoiler
• That night, they called Din to replace Nick
• Helwani was escorted out of 199
  
• Nick was never part of Dana's life or UFC again
• Din filmed the series the next day (June 5th)
  
• The series did re-shoots to edit out Nick & put in Din

 

[FrankieNYC]

Speaking of media having ZERO clue:

https://www.bizjournals.com/losange...-fighters-paid-much-lower-share-than.amp.html

There is speculation in the industry, including in reports, that the percentage of UFC revenue the fighters receive is below 33 percent. That speculation is based, in part, on portions of the lawsuit that are not redacted, but that number could not be confirmed.

How clueless
UFC's own filings have it as 13-17% in 2015-16
That shows how little research media does