A group of MMA writers and broadcasters, following the lead of reporters in more established sports, has formed the MMA Journalists Association.
The association’s formation was spurred, in part, by an incident last June in which the UFC barred influential MMA journalist Ariel Helwani indefinitely from covering its events, though it lifted the ban a few days later after public uproar. Helwani is part of the new group.
 |
The UFC's action against writer and podcaster Ariel Helwani last year helped prompt journalists' efforts to organize.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES |
“When Helwani blew up, we as a collective group came together on a large email chain and said now is the time we really need to do this,” said Josh Gross, who writes about MMA for The Guardian, a British daily newspaper with a U.S. edition. “Everyone, basically, who covers MMA was on that email chain.”
The four major team sports all have writers associations. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America dates to 1908.
The MMA group expects it will fight for members’ rights and access to events, but the plan is not to be adversarial to major promoters such as the UFC or Bellator at the get-go, according to both Gross and Helwani.
“It’s not so much about sticking it to anyone or being combative,” Helwani said. “Every major sport — and the journalists who cover the sport — have some sort of media organization. And we now believe, for various reasons, that it is important that mixed martial arts does have some sort of association for journalists.”
The group plans to establish standards and best practices for writers, Gross said. More than 70 MMA writers, editors and broadcasters have applied to join the group, but not everyone who applies will be accepted.
“We are going to be very clear in our expectations of what members can and cannot do,” Gross said. “If they are being paid by a promoter, they are not allowed to participate in our group. If they are working with other vested interests in MMA and not disclosing those things and we learn about it, they are not allowed to be part of our group.”
Most MMA media members started writing about the sport online, rather than at traditional newspapers or other news outlets. “We are looking for original journalistic work, and that is the lowest barrier for applicants,” Gross said.
The group also provides a vehicle to comment on day-to-day issues that MMA writers deal with, such as bad Wi-Fi at fights, Gross said.
MMA writers have tried before to form a professional association, including in 2007, 2009 and 2012, but talks fizzled out.
This time the group has set up a tax-exempt organization, as well as a website and a constitution. Vox Media, which owns MMAFighting.com, provided legal advice in helping set up a 501(c)(3) for the organization but has no control over it, according to Gross and Helwani.
The MMAJA has an interim board of four officers and three directors. Dann Stupp, MMA editor for USA Today, is president; Helwani, who writes for MMAFighting.com and hosts “The MMA Hour” podcast, is vice president; Gross is secretary; and Marc Raimondi of MMAFighting.com is treasurer. Plans call for the group to officially vote on a board in the next several months.
Media associations in other sports, such as baseball, vote on awards for athletes in their sports, as well as membership in the sports’ hall of fame. The MMAJA will have annual awards for “exceptional work” in the sport itself, as well as the media coverage of it, according to its website.
Voting on an MMA hall of fame or fighter rankings could be something the MMAJA looks at, but that is down the road, Helwani said.
