example of poor reporting......

[clapping_tiger]

This article was posted in the Horror Stories section and I thought I would post it here. It is reporting like this helps distort the publics view on MMA competition and MMA fighters.

Cops in Fort Wayne, Indiana say Dustin Pino is a wanna-be ultimate fighter who couldn't make it in the ring, but took out his aggressions on his girlfriend instead. Pino is charged with savagely beating his girlfriend, Emily Gorney on March 8th, 2003. His motive is a mystery, because many of Emily's memories were virtually erased by the many blows to her head. The beating put Emily into a coma for five days.


Girlfriend In Coma For Five Days
All Emily can remember is that Pino was training for a big fight on the "ultimate fighting" Circuit. It is a growing sport with no gloves and few rules. Inside the ropes, anything goes. Emily claims he was taking a lot of steroids at the time to bulk himself up.
Emily's friends say she was about to break up with him, but she has no memory of that. She does remember when his normally-calm demeanor turned into rage. After that, she says, it is all a blank. According to court documents, Pino told a friend he picked Emily up by the neck and hit her head against a wall. Cops say Pino told another friend that he would not let Emily leave and that he tortured and beat her for eight hours. Pino eventually called paramedics. He told them he pushed Emily and she fell and hit her head.

But pictures taken of Emily in the hospital show a different story. Doctors said she suffered bruises all over her body and many serious blows to the head. Paramedics on the scene called police because Emily's injuries were so massive. Pino fled before police arrived.

It is a very sad story and I feel bad for the girl. But by reading this article, I don't see any reason to associate him with Ultimate Fighting. They tried to make him seem even more brutal than he already was, by distorting the way people reading this article will view MMA. Either the reporter never has seen a MMA competition, or changed it for effect. The fact that he was a training fighter should be enough to show the public that he was capable of beating her nearly to death, but to make the sport almost seem like it contributed in a way by the sheer brutality of the sport is what upsets me.

 

[Andrew Green]

Since when was reporting supposedto be about the truth?

It's not just a martial arts thing, the worse the news, the better the ratings.

I suppose they could publish "He was usually a nice guy, very driven and trained hard for his choosen sport, one which emphasises peace and harmony."

But that wouldn't sell, got to make bad guys seem inhuman.

Same as that whole 9/11 thing, pretty sure not many papers published "Freedom fighters lash out at superpower" ... that sort of thing just doesn't sell the advertising space... What works better is convince everyone they are in danger and stay tunned for more information.

Nah, I'm sure if the guy was a chef they would publish that he "Liked to collect and play with large knifes which where kept razor sharp..."

 

[ace]

He gives us MMA Fighters a bad name.

 

[Andrew Green]

He gives us MMA Fighters a bad name.

I wonder, if he had been a ballroom dancer would people be saying he gives ballroom dancers a bad name?

It's just a sport, good people do it, and bad people do it. Stereotypes are bad.

 

[clapping_tiger]

That's true that that reporters embellish the headlines and stories to get better ratings, or to be read. But what I didn't like was the line about "It is a growing sport with no gloves and few rules. Inside the ropes, anything goes. Emily claims he was taking a lot of steroids at the time to bulk himself up."

That is not an embellishment, but just flat out not true. Gloves are required in sanctioned UFC, Pride, and other such events. Also it is not an anything goes inside the ropes sport. There are many rules. I know that because he was trying to be a fighter, they would showcase that. After all, didn't Mike Tyson seem like so much more of an animal because he was a fighter, and a tough one at that. Not to say the man is not crazy, but if he was a crazy ballroom dancer, wouldn't he just seem crazy.

My point wasn't that they stated he was a fighter, but how they made the sport look. The guy is scum whether he was a fighter or fisherman, but I just wish they would have gotten their facts straight about the sport. Too many people who don't watch the UFC ave that impression about the sport that this report portrays.

 

[Andrew Green]

I won't disagree, but that is just the nature of the reporting process. They really don't care about the little things like that, they don't have the time too check every little thing.

Some fighters take steroids, regardless of whether it is legal or not. Lower level competitions are also less likely to catch them. True for all sports.

Gloves, well, not to long ago, back when Ultimate fighting was big news, there was no gloves and where no rules... so...

Or it could even be that he was training for a no gloves event somewhere, and it has nothing do do with the UFC.