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Not too long ago I made an observation that got me a little bit of backlash. I know, me causing backlash? Who would have thought! And that observation was my ranking of the big three of independent bodybuilding media sites. In my opinion then \u2013 as now \u2013 it\u2019s Nick\u2019s Strength And Power, Desktop Bodybuilding, and Muscle Discord. Today, I happened to be on IG looking through stories and I stumbled on Matt Tskingkorang sounding off after Xavier Wills called him out as being too negative. Usually, I might be inspired to write an article based on a full video or perhaps something that happened at a contest. I can\u2019t recall the last time that I wrote an article based on a story, but here we are. My article isn\u2019t so much about what Xavier said, rather, it\u2019s more about the idea of one media outlet trying to influence another. This piece isn\u2019t about throwing shade at either Xavier or Matt. I consider both to be friends and I enjoy their content for different reasons. While I haven\u2019t participated directly on DB, I have been on Muscle Discord and I\u2019m very grateful to Matt for having included me. They both are tremendous outlets, but they\u2019re also very distinct from the other. What\u2019s great about independent media is that there\u2019s a lot of variety. As the saying goes, different strokes for different folks<\/em>, right? I mean, I like what I like and you may like something totally different. To each their own and so on and so forth. But what about the issue of an outlet being \u201ctoo negative?\u201d What do we make of that?<\/p>\n Well the idea of negativity is a very subjective assessment to begin with. Some people might associate negativity with bluntness. Other people might associate bluntness with authenticity and transparency. There\u2019s a school of thought that believes in exercising restraint and offering up more pleasantries than criticisms (e.g. \u201cyou catch more flies with honey than with vinegar\u201d). At the end of the day, sometimes it\u2019s the criticisms that lead to the kinds of change that will improve conditions in a sport or a company or even a country. Many times being a skeptic and voicing concerns is the only way to correct wrongs. It\u2019s also important to have a certain level of unapologetic candor that cannot be contained. Meaning that if somebody does something wrong they\u2019re going to get called out for it. It doesn\u2019t matter if they\u2019re a famed influencer or an everyday fan.<\/p>\n Sometimes good people stay good because they know that if they do wrong they\u2019re going to be exposed. This is why I\u2019m such a big fan of outlets like Ballerbusters and Jon Bravo Films. Both of those outlets are very much about keeping people on the straight and narrow. And that\u2019s very important in an industry that is plagued by scammers, hustlers, and just downright bad people. People that sell diets consisting of raw liver, supplements that at best could be described as cookie cutter, and even people committing acts of stolen valor in order to place themselves at the upper echelons of social media need to be called out. In other words, lying about falling victim to an IED in order to go viral is outrageous. Even if the person later apologizes, and we all know who I\u2019m talking about, that level of deceit should not go unchecked. And in that regard a channel like Muscle Discord is invaluable. They won\u2019t let up \u2013 nor should they. Is that \u2018too negative?\u2019 That\u2019s up to you. It\u2019s all up to you. Every single person is free to decide that they want to watch and what they don\u2019t. And that includes who they want to follow and who they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n But what if after a scammer or hustler apologizes, should everybody let go of the story? Should everybody sing Kumbaya and forgive the person or should they keep going at them to ensure that the full story is put out there and to draw a line in the sand to hopefully prevent other people from repeating the same con game on the public? That all depends on how much justice you feel needs to be meted out.<\/p>\n Again that\u2019s why I think it\u2019s so important to have diversity in the media. We don\u2019t all have to have websites that promote positivity. This is not to say that Muscle Discord is promoting negativity, but if you are of the opinion that going all the way with a story is negative, then perhaps you think that type of frontline reporting could be too much for you. It\u2019s all so subjective. We all have our own preconceived notions and our own ideas of what is positive and what is negative. Do I think that Muscle Discord is too negative? Well that\u2019s kind of putting me on the spot right, but I don\u2019t mind. After all, I\u2019m writing an article about a story so I would be the biggest hypocrite if I didn\u2019t give you my honest take.<\/p>\n I think that Matt can be very zealous and I think that he can be very unforgiving. He\u2019s a passionate dude that says what\u2019s on his mind. There\u2019s very little, if any filter, when it comes to his style. Whereas many journalists would back down when things get touchy, Matt doubles down. He feels strongly about something, he won\u2019t move on. That\u2019s both good and bad. It\u2019s good if you want totally unfiltered, no holds barred journalism, but it\u2019s bad if you want everything to be hunky-dory, lighthearted, and fun.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n