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The mainstream media coverage of UFC
By Zach Arnold | May 16, 2009
Is the media ignorant or intentionally misrepresenting facts about UFC?:
We’ve seen CBS and CNBC and other big networks portray UFC in a manner which isn’t entirely true. And every time we watch these shows, it becomes more and more painful to watch the media profiles of White and UFC management. Again, that’s not the fault of UFC — they’re doing their job, but the media isn’t doing its job in telling the complete story. Unfortunately, ESPN has been one of the biggest culprits of journalistic malpractice in terms of covering the full picture on who Dana White is and how he operates.
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As we mentioned earlier in this column, Dana White is often known as BLAF (Built Like a Fighter) online because of his persona as a tough man who is one of the boys and once did a fitness magazine cover (while challenging Tito Ortiz to an exhibition fight). In his ESPN the Magazine piece, Woods wrote, “White is respected in the fight world because he’s a former fighter and looks like one.”
Update (5/16): Someone please give me a download link for this Michael Woods interview. I have got to hear if he was challenged on some of the ridiculous statements he wrote in his ESPN article about Dana White.
Topics: MMA, Media, UFC, Zach Arnold | 52 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback | Share This
To the last question–no, the other major sports are not under the auspices of athletic commissions. Baseball, for a number of reasons, is actually also exempt from federal antitrust laws.
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” — Joseph Goebbels
The fact of the matter is, the Zuffa myth has already taken root as the truth in the public’s consciousness. Nobody cares that the rules changes got underway during the SEG era, and therefore nobody in the press cares to tilt at the windmill in an effort to bring down the myth.