Within a few hours of each other, two of America's best-known news brands told the public opposite things about the same man. CNN reported that Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, had turned down an offer. TMZ, the celebrity-news outlet better known for gossip than for diplomacy, countered that White and the other personality involved would sit down together next week to examine the proposal. The discrepancy matters less for what it says about one deal than for what it shows about how information now moves.

Neither account has been confirmed by the principals in the material available so far, and the details of the offer itself have not been made public. It is therefore impossible to say which report is closer to the truth, or whether both are partly right: a first refusal can be followed by a negotiation, and a meeting can take place without any agreement being reached. There are, broadly, three ways to read the situation. The first is that CNN has the more accurate picture and that TMZ is describing talks that will never happen.

The second is that TMZ, which has long cultivated sources close to sports and entertainment figures, has learned of a change of heart that CNN has not yet caught. The third, and perhaps the most cynical, is that each side is shaping the story to improve its bargaining position, since a reported refusal and a reported meeting are both useful signals. For readers, the practical lesson is to wait for confirmation.