The latest victim in the Ack-Mac dispute. I think Media Matters is feeling a bit self indulgent over believing they played a role, since they brought to light the Tommy the Tank fiasco. Though, I do have to admit that their statement that “NRATV was a malevolent and destructive force” is kind of hard to argue with.
Way before NRATV, Ack-Mac was putting on some reasonable programming. Then they brought in Internet personalities like Colion Noir, Billy Johnson, Dom Raso, and actually, Angry Dana was part of that initial group. None of that early foray I had issues with, because their programming was very gun focused initially, and some of it even watchable. In hindsight, bringing them in as paid professionals was a mistake. They were more valuable to the movement as independent personalities.
I can’t exactly recall when, but at some point Ack-Mac really started taking NRATV off the rails with loony right-wing bullshit that had nothing to do with guns. The poster child I have in my mind for all this was Grant Stinchfield. Any time NRATV became controversial, and I don’t mean “no such thing as bad publicity” controversial, it’s this guy who kept turning up like a bad penny. Angry Dana just got angrier. A lot of our people were publicly questioning the value and tone of NRATV, not just our opponents. The Tommy the Tank gaffe was just the dog shit icing on the mold ridden cake.
I feel for a lot of the Ack-Mac employees who worked hard for NRA all these years, and who are victims of this shit show. But for the sake of NRA’s future, we have to move on. NRATV is gone. Time to keep cleaning house.
If you recall, way back prior to Citizens United, NRATV was a direct response to efforts by Congress and other enemies of freedom to erode the right of free speech as applied to corporations (such as NRA) with a big exception for news organizations. Hence, NRATV, which clarified that NRA was a media company that communicated through its various news publications.
Post Citizens United that nerd doesn’t really exist anymore.
What was the Tommy the Tank thing?
Klan hoods on the tank. It was meant to be a joke. It was not funny.
I gotta wonder if there was something of the same problem other “focused” outlets have – the (percieved) need for 24×7 content.
Which is not only ridiculous but foolish in this age; but that might not have been as obvious to the decision makers at the time.
Its funny to see all the anti-gunners celebrating this as some sort of victory. As you said, many of us didn’t really like it. And I bet a majority of NRA members didn’t even know about it, much less watch it.