Sherdog.com comments on its (lack of) coverage of the Pride/Fuji TV story
I have long felt that Sherdog.com is the top MMA news site, and I have written for the site on several occasions. But, its lack of any reporting on the story that Fuji TV cancelled its contract with Pride baffled me. I was especially surprised when, today, Sherdog.com reproted on the lineup for the next Pride show without referring to the Fuji T.V. deal. With Full Contact Fighter briefly mentioning the news in a blurb about the next Pride show, Sherdog.com was the last major MMA news site without any reporting on the story.
So, I decided to do what any pain-in-the-ass blogger would do, and I called Josh Gross, Sherdog's editor (whom I've known since before either of us wrote about MMA), to find out what was going on.
Gross was driving to this weekend's Strikeforce show, but he took the time to explain that, "We didnt feel we had enough information to write a story. There were a lot of rumors and we wanted to be sure we had the facts. We will have have a story up tonight." Gross said that the article will have a lot of new information and will help separate fact from rumor.
Well it is good news that Sherdog.com will have a story up tonight. But, lets face it, the fact that Fuji T.V. cacelled the contract was a well established fact not a rumor, and the story was important enough that (at least) the bare fact of the cacellation should have been reported. There is really no good excuse to have waited.
In my opinion, Sherdog.com and much of the MMA media fell short with their lack of timely reporting on this story. A three day delay may seem short, but it's an eternity in Internet time. As the MMA news sites strive to be treated as legitimate news sources they will need to take care to present important news to their readers in a more timely fashion. Lets hope the MMA media recognizes that it messed up and learns a lesson.
In the meantime, Pride held a press conference today to deny the allegations that it has connections to the Yakuza and announce its plans for its next shows. Apparnetly several hundred fans and 50+ fighters attended in a show of support. But, without a new TV deal you have to wonder how long this brave face will last.
Pride fighters and executives gather in a show of support for the organization
Update 6/08: For those of you who speak Japanese, here's the NTV news coverage of Pride's press conference:
Update 6/09: As of 8:00 a.m. PDT there is still no article on Sherdog.com. However, somehow, Sherdog.com has been able to put up video, pictures and interviews from yesterday's Strikeforce weigh-in.
Update 6/09: O.K., it's 11:30 a.m., and I see that Sherdog has finally posted an article.
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So, I decided to do what any pain-in-the-ass blogger would do, and I called Josh Gross, Sherdog's editor (whom I've known since before either of us wrote about MMA), to find out what was going on.
Gross was driving to this weekend's Strikeforce show, but he took the time to explain that, "We didnt feel we had enough information to write a story. There were a lot of rumors and we wanted to be sure we had the facts. We will have have a story up tonight." Gross said that the article will have a lot of new information and will help separate fact from rumor.
Well it is good news that Sherdog.com will have a story up tonight. But, lets face it, the fact that Fuji T.V. cacelled the contract was a well established fact not a rumor, and the story was important enough that (at least) the bare fact of the cacellation should have been reported. There is really no good excuse to have waited.
In my opinion, Sherdog.com and much of the MMA media fell short with their lack of timely reporting on this story. A three day delay may seem short, but it's an eternity in Internet time. As the MMA news sites strive to be treated as legitimate news sources they will need to take care to present important news to their readers in a more timely fashion. Lets hope the MMA media recognizes that it messed up and learns a lesson.
In the meantime, Pride held a press conference today to deny the allegations that it has connections to the Yakuza and announce its plans for its next shows. Apparnetly several hundred fans and 50+ fighters attended in a show of support. But, without a new TV deal you have to wonder how long this brave face will last.
Pride fighters and executives gather in a show of support for the organization
Update 6/08: For those of you who speak Japanese, here's the NTV news coverage of Pride's press conference:
Update 6/09: As of 8:00 a.m. PDT there is still no article on Sherdog.com. However, somehow, Sherdog.com has been able to put up video, pictures and interviews from yesterday's Strikeforce weigh-in.
Update 6/09: O.K., it's 11:30 a.m., and I see that Sherdog has finally posted an article.
