MMA Journalism Roundtable: Should Personality Play In?
By Yael Grauer on Aug 03, 2009
Welcome to part 8 of a 10-part series discussing pertinent issues in MMA media, with our special guests Jim Murphy of the Savage Science, Zak Woods of SB Nation and Watch Kalib Run and MMA Opinion’s very own Joshua Stein. Today we’ll be discussing the following question… please leave your own thoughts in the comments section!
Yesterday we discussed media bias, specifically when writers are affiliated or friends with specific gyms or fighters. But this goes the other way too–people might be hesitant to write positive things about fighters who don’t carry themselves well. One could argue that they’re protecting the integrity of the sport, but somebody’s personality really doesn’t have all that much to do with their fighting ability. Should it be kept separate?
Read Zak, Jim and Josh’s answers after the jump, and leave your own comments!
Zak Woods:
This is a great question as contemporary journalists often bemoan the tabloid-culture of new sports media. The reality is that sports are entertainment and much like the existence of entertainment journalists there are also entertainment tabloids. Sometimes people just want to read about Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson, other times they want to read about who is the best pound-for-pound fighter. It is a delicate balance to tread but they shouldn’t necessarily be mutually exclusive
Jim Murphy:
If a writer can’t see the ‘steak’ for the ‘sizzle’ or lack thereof they’re clearly not serious devotees of the sport. Nick Diaz is a good example—he’s often times his own worst publicist in interviews. As I’ve noted before, some could take issue with the way he lives his life. But if they can’t get beyond that and appreciate his unique mix of ungodly technical skill, insane conditioning *and* the sort of ‘you’ll have to kill me to beat me’ chip on his shoulder that you can’t teach in a gym they clearly don’t understand the sport. You could make a case that he’s not the best representative of the sport to ‘outsiders’ or the most media savvy but when the cage door closes his simply one of the best there is. I love watching Diaz fight—he’s one of the fighters who always reminds me what the sport can be at its highest level.
Again, the MMA media has to remember that they’re not ‘the show’. They have to put aside the tendency to be judgmental about how a fighter lives his life outside of the ring, or his background or whatever. If Nick Diaz were out snatching purses in his spare time, or clearly not putting in the work or not approaching his fights seriously you could make a case that he was ‘undermining the integrity of the sport’. He’s the exact opposite—he trains like a beast and leaves it all in the cage. To dismiss his skill, toughness and heart simply because he doesn’t have good ‘people skills’ or you don’t agree with his lifestyle is the height of journalistic arrogance.
Josh Stein:
I disagree that personality doesn’t have anything to do with fighting ability. I’ve been around grapplers long enough to know that you can tell how good a grappler is by how humble he is and by how he carries himself. The guy who says “I’m the best” usually isn’t.
There are fighters people hate that I like. B.J. Penn has become pretty unpopular lately, but I’m still a huge fan. It’s just important to make an argument to people. If a writer says “this is why I love a fighter, this is why I think he’s the best,” readers are usually pretty receptive to that. At the very least, they’re willing to entertain a debate about it.
Readers: Leave your thoughts in the comments!
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I would like to note an excellent example of what I talked about in this segment in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, in the form of Roger Gracie, a man who does not think he’s the best, despite submitting his way through the world championships with a level of dominance best described as freakish.
“Nick Diaz is a good example—he’s often times his own worst publicist in interviews.”
haha, perfect example. I can imagine it being difficult to cover a fighter like Nick Diaz without making any reference to his antics or personality.
My stance: A fighter’s existence in this sport equates to more than just their fighting ability or their credentials. They all have a persona that they build. They have an image. They have a presence before and after the fight, and outside the ring or cage. If someone is covering a fighter, then they should be covering everything important about that fighter. Sometimes, what is important involves their personality. If a fighter has some personality oddities, that should probably be included in the coverage to some extent.
However (and this is key), a writer should NOT ignore fighting ability. That is where the line is drawn. Refer to the fighter’s personality traits when necessary, but do not allow those personality traits to affect your coverage of their fighting prowess.
Surprisingly, I think most MMA Media sites (the major sites, at least) do a decent job with this balance. A bad personality doesn’t seem to get in the way of proper coverage that often (as far as I have noticed).
You guys all seem to have some kind of sick man crush on Dana White.
How about talking about how your bias affects coverage of the UFC and those Dana White singles out for slander in an attempt to damage their abilty to earn a living outside the Zuffa empire.
Sick of you groupie, unprofessional “journalists” that have no personal ethics or professional integrity.
Your coverage of the Fedor issue has been uniformly slanted and snide. Imagine the nerve of the man turning down the little god that the media has helped to make the face of mma in the US.
Dana White is not a fighter guys. Fedor is.
Get off Dana’s dick and start writing objectively.
Aynn, you seem to have sort of a bizarre obsession with whining about how much we all love Dana. Frankly, it’s bizarre because I blasted him over the issue of forcing paid sponsorships and (like three days ago) I posted a piece on his manipulation of the media (which is what you’re asking for).
Stop being a trolling, whiny twit.
Aynn: I think you’re the one with the issue with hating Dana White.