Helwani at ESPN probably pisses Dana off to no end.
But while the MMA social media bubble acts as if tension between sports entities and media is a unique circumstance, ESPN’s newsroom has long dealt with leagues in which the corporate side dislikes some of the things reporters are reporting.
“It’s not like this is something new,” Pitaro said. “The big stick-and-ball sports don’t like everything we publish, but we’re here to report the news that matters. I’ve got a long relationship with Dana White, and yeah, I’m going to hear about it sometimes, but they know we’re going stay on top of the issues of the day because the viewers demand it.”
To that end, in recent weeks, ESPN’s editorial staff has stayed on top of controversial topics, from the Jones drug test results which led to his fight with Alexander Gustafsson being moved from Las Vegas to the Los Angeles area to the debut of former NFL player Greg Hardy, who got in legal trouble due to domestic abuse issues, on Saturday’s Brooklyn show.
“You’ve seen it already in the news we’ve reported,” Jacobs said. “Ariel’s not going to shy away from reporting something if Dana doesn’t want it reported. We’re not going to avoid tough issues.”
https://www.mmafighting.com/2019/1/17/18184837/espn-execs-ready-for-the-dawn-of-a-new-ufc-era
But while the MMA social media bubble acts as if tension between sports entities and media is a unique circumstance, ESPN’s newsroom has long dealt with leagues in which the corporate side dislikes some of the things reporters are reporting.
“It’s not like this is something new,” Pitaro said. “The big stick-and-ball sports don’t like everything we publish, but we’re here to report the news that matters. I’ve got a long relationship with Dana White, and yeah, I’m going to hear about it sometimes, but they know we’re going stay on top of the issues of the day because the viewers demand it.”
To that end, in recent weeks, ESPN’s editorial staff has stayed on top of controversial topics, from the Jones drug test results which led to his fight with Alexander Gustafsson being moved from Las Vegas to the Los Angeles area to the debut of former NFL player Greg Hardy, who got in legal trouble due to domestic abuse issues, on Saturday’s Brooklyn show.
“You’ve seen it already in the news we’ve reported,” Jacobs said. “Ariel’s not going to shy away from reporting something if Dana doesn’t want it reported. We’re not going to avoid tough issues.”
https://www.mmafighting.com/2019/1/17/18184837/espn-execs-ready-for-the-dawn-of-a-new-ufc-era