Listen Now: The Sage Steele Show | Dana White
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Hey, I'm Bill Maher. Please enjoy this clip from the new Sage Steel Show. I hate the media. I hate them. And there's very few people in the media world that I will deal with. There's a company called Sports Business Journal, right? They are in the business of sports. They're literally the only people that I will talk to about the business of sports. We're doing a story with them right now. This story has been six weeks.

And they've done fact-checking like four times. Wait, journalism? Yes. Actual journalism. What a concept. Fact-checking like four times. They didn't just fact-check me. They fact-checked me, the guy who I have running the company, this guy over here who's running our other company. Like they're fact-checking all this stuff. They're the only people that I will talk the business of sports with, the Sports Business Journal. And then there's a handful of guys. While I was flying here when I was all pissed off, when I walked in your door here today,

There's a fight that's falling apart while I'm on the 30-minute flight here. And these website guys, I don't even call them journalists. These website guys are posting that, oh, they didn't do this. They didn't do that. They're lying, flat out blatantly lying. And I literally posted a text message from the fighter that they're saying that the lie was about. Shoot, where's my phone? I didn't see your tweet. Oh, yeah, yeah. Shoot. So—

I don't know how we got into this. Why though? The media is so bad. Why are those journalists in particular, maybe, you know, specifically not them, but what's the goal of them to lie? Clickbaiting. It's all about clickbait. It's about being first and not about being right. Yeah. They don't even care. It's all about getting these clicks and getting attention. And, you know, it's just, it's become this, it's just a cesspool of people who are unqualified,

to even be in that space, let alone, there's still a handful of real journalists out there that I'll actually talk to that, you know, actually fact check. And when they report it, they know, even with the Sports Business Journal story, as it gets closer to getting released, they keep calling for updates or changes that may have happened before the story prints.

That is journalism. That's so good to know. Yeah. Because I think, honestly, the majority of America now, the distrust in the media. 100%. I mean, I remember telling athletes that all the time. They're like, well, you and I go, listen, I...

And I understand why you don't trust us. You know, give me a chance, I promise, and you can see what I, you know, before I post it, whatever. But I understand it. I just don't know how to fix it. I believe whether it's sports or politics, it's too far gone. This is how you fix it. This is how you fix it. So if you're somebody like me, you only do Sports Business Journal, right, who you know is credible, and you only do podcasts.

with people who aren't out there trying to go, gotcha, you know what I mean? To throw something out there or to post something that isn't true or to try to clickbait and get fast hits off it. If you're guys like me, if you're an athlete or you're running sports organizations, you whatever, you do Sports Business Journal and you do podcasts.

That's it, where you sit down and have an honest conversation about things, whether it's the business or whatever it might be. But you also are in multi-million dollar media deals with ESPN, with the biggest sports network in the world, right? And so how do you manage that when you don't necessarily want to deal with maybe some specific people who work there? Well, if you even think about ESPN, I'm going to tell you, Stephen A. Smith. Stephen A. Smith.

And I know you and Steven have your whatever. I talk about people based off my relationships with them. As it should be. Has been the most stand-up guy I've ever dealt with in the media. There's guys like him. Another guy named Kevin Aioli who's been a big sports writer for a long time. Yeah.

There are guys out there that you can have these relationships with that you trust. - Absolutely. - I've had plenty of people at ESPN that I don't trust. - I know. - And that I don't do interviews with. But Stephen A. Smith is one of them. Stephen A. Smith has never been anything but stand up with me. - Stephen A., and we really don't have a thing, a beef. We might have different opinions on things, but that's like anybody, and I love that and respect that those conversations can be had.

One of the many things I do respect about him is that he will also admit when he's wrong about something. And that's what is also missing in journalism. I mean, when you look at—you were talking about COVID a second ago, right? I mean, how about the top leadership? No one has really come out, or it's like a dribble, or it accidentally gets out, right? Okay.

yeah, we were wrong about this, so we shouldn't have done it. To me, as a leader, so getting back to UFC, right? As a leader, that's the best, that's all I ever wanted. And by the way, as a parent as well, because it's one thing to pound your chest or pat yourself on the back when things are going well and the ratings are great or whatever it is, but when stuff's hitting the fan, as a leader, are you owning that too? 100%. The other one is Pat McAfee. Pat McAfee is now on ESPN, one of the most stand-up,

You know, straight up guys you could deal with. And when you really think about it, what I just said, it's a podcast. He's a podcaster. He didn't get into this to be a MMA or sports journalist. He's a podcaster who you can trust and you can go in and have an honest conversation with. These are the people that I want to talk to. That's it. But that to me is the key word. Conversation. Thank you. That stood for what you believed in. Yeah. You fought the fight.

And now here you are. And I flew here today because I respect you so much. And this is your first podcast? This is the first week we're doing— First week? I'm honored to sit down here and talk to a badass woman like you. And, you know, this is—these are the type of interviews that I will do. You know, all this other bullshit, I'm done. Two most hated—

And unliked people on the planet right now are politicians and the media. Nobody likes them. Nobody trusts them. Nobody believes a word they say. I'm done. I have a handful of people and interviews that I will do, and that's it. You know what I'll do? My whole thing is social media now. You want to know what's going on and what the truth is? I'll announce it on my social media. You control it. It's the only way.