The Dressing Down of Granville Ampong and Journalism 101 Lessons
By Winchell Campos
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 05 Jun 2012
LAS VEGAS, NV -- Pay-per-click writer Granville Ampong should not blame anyone but himself when he finds out that his application for credentials to cover the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley fight might have been turned down.
Come June 9, Ampong might be watching the fight not in the place where true sportswriters sit and chronicle the fight as it unfolds at the MGM Grand Garden Arena here but somewhere else.
Ampong, the infamous writer who recently whipped up a maelstrom of controversy by maliciously putting words into Manny Pacquiao's mouth and created a publicity nightmare in the camp of the Filipino champion while he was preparing for a big fight, had the gall to show up once again at the Griffith Park last week.
Last Friday, June 1, Ampong tried to shake my hand when I met up with him. I refused. He tried to touch my arm, so he can reason out. I admonished him not to touch me. Then, he started to rant about how he took me to lunch at one time, about eight years ago. Then, he tried to ask me the some stupid questions like, "how long did Manny Pacquiao run today?"
Yes, I did say he was thick-faced. For what he did and still have the nerve to appear righteous, Ampong is a class act. Yes, I did say he needs to go back to school and learn how to write more responsibly, if not, correctly. Whether he did it intentionally or by sheer ignorance of the rules of journalism and objective writing, Ampong put to shame the gallant and honest men of the Fourth Estate.
By shamelessly putting and wrongly attributing quotes not spoken by Pacquiao, local and international members of the "unwashed" media picked up Ampong's own statements and created more problems and a negative domino effect. Several multi-million companies whom Pacquiao endorsed, almost pulled out because of the apparent impasse. Only until it was clearly explained by Pacquiao, himself, that he did not say what was attributed to him, did the controversy die down.
Here is part of the controversial and sensationalized article of Ampong, which is clearly a swipe by Pacquiao to US President Barack Obama and wishing death to members of the gay community:
Pacquiao's directive for Obama calls societies to fear God and not to promote sin, inclusive of same-sex marriage and cohabitation, notwithstanding what Leviticus 20:13 has been pointing all along: ?If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.?
I did dress down Ampong, giving him a lecture of misleading use of quotation marks. I told him that by putting quotes on a sentence after a person's name means only one thing: that the person involved really did say it.
Like some of the pay-per-click writers who earn only when their stories get read and noticed, it has become a trend these days for writers to try to be more controversial. The more controversial an article gets, the potential to receive more clicks translates to more money.
Ampong did so, at the expense of Manny Pacquiao. I have always been a keen observer and I take note on everything that happens in Manny Pacquiao's life, being tasked to write his biography. I have noted on my computer articles of writers who don't write fair and square. I can count in the palm of my hand who these writers are. This was not the first Ampong gaffe towards Pacquiao, either.
There were a lot of people at the Griffith Park that day, June 1, and many of them wished Ampong to just leave. As one guy said, "Leave us alone. We are already at peace with ourselves here."
I was conscious enough not to hurt Ampong or threaten him with bodily harm or in any form. I knew that he was studying law at one point and one wrong move will fulfill his purpose of getting my goat. Members of the Los Angeles Police District were also at hand.
There were more than 15 people who witnessed the incident and I challenge Ampong to produce his own witnesses. And if I, indeed, attacked him or tried to attack him, there were the police who could have come to his aid.
Ampong is living in a fantasy land, a world of make-believe. I am confident that the truth will be on my side as more witnesses will disprove his newest caper. I challenge him to come up with his own version of the truth and have his "15" witnesses come out.
While on his way back to his car, Ampong actually hurled an empty threat. He told me to watch out and it was heard by a handful. I saw a coward and I know a coward when I see one, that's why I took Ampong's threat lightly. After the incident, I actually talked and walked towards the uniformed LAPD members who were a few yards away.
I am not sure if they saw everything, too.
Ampong tried to use a Facebook friend of mine, Anthony Andales, to write for him his own version of his "press release." After Andales was able to get in touch with me by telephone, he declined to write a spoon-fed version of Ampong's truth.
Greenhorn Robbie Pangilinan is one of my friends on Facebook. He is also a budding writer and a photographer. He did not try to get my side, like what other responsible journalists should have done. Instead, he allowed himself to become a puppet and wrote an article in the Manila Times about the apparent attack on Ampong.
The least Pangilinan should have done was send me a question as he knew where to reach me. Pangilinan wasn't even present on June 1 but still went on to write about the incident, or to say the least, non-incident. Journalism 101 teaches us: Get your facts straight and direct from the source. I guess somebody needs another lesson in good journalism.
Winchell Campos is the official biographer of Manny Pacquiao. He will author "Pacquiao," the ONLY accurate, true and factual life story of boxer and Congressman Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Winchell Campos.
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