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NRATV logo
NRATV logo

NRATV, National Rifle Association Television, is the online video channel of the National Rifle Association (NRA).

History

In 2004 the National Rifle Association (NRA) began offering NRA News, video content available via smart phone applications, web browsers, and streaming devices, billed as “the most comprehensive video coverage of Second Amendment issues, events and culture anywhere in the world." Content categories included commentary, investigative, lifestyle, profiles, campaigns, and history.[1][2] In 2016, NRA News was expanded and rebranded as NRATV.[3] Billed as the "voice of the NRA,"[3] NRATV is "a central part" of the NRA's messaging, according to The New York Times.[4] The slogan of NRATV is "America's Most Patriotic Team on a Mission to Take Back The Truth."[5]

NRA News and NRATV were created and are operated by Ackerman McQueen, an Oklahoma City-based advertising agency. Ackerman McQueen is the National Rifle Association's largest vendor, and the NRA is Ackerman McQueen's largest client.[1][3][6] The approach to advertising of the Ackerman McQueen agency is a "philosophy of branded news. Start with the people who matter most, don't be afraid of small audiences, and don't be afraid of owning your narrative. You can do that through advertising but you could also do it as technology progressed in so many ways,” according to Ackerman McQueen's chief executive officer Revan McQueen in a 2019 interview.[7][4] “Every brand must be its own media company,” according to the Ackerman McQueen website.[4][8]

The primary sponsors of NRATV are manufacturers of guns and ammunition, such as O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Smith & Wesson, Sig Sauer,[3] Kimber Manufacturing, and Sturm, Ruger & Co.[5]

In the aftermath of the February 14, 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, activists created the hashtags #stopNRAmazon and #DumpNRATV asking Amazon to discontinue streaming programs from NRATV, an initiative supported by celebrities like Alyssa Milano, Denis O’Hare, Evan Handler, Ben Gleib, Joshua Malina, Warren Leight, Genevieve Angelson, Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, and Misha Collins.[5][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Other companies offering NRATV programs as part of their streaming services became the target of a similar campaign launched by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense and Everytown for Gun Safety.[18][19]

In late November 2018 NRATV laid off several staff members following a $55 million decrease in revenue at the NRA.[20][21]

In 2010 Tyler Schropp came to the NRA from Ackerman McQueen and became development director at the NRA. Between 2010 and 2019, the NRA paid $18 million to a production company for the NRATV hunting series Under Wild Skies. Schropp had a ownership position in the production company until at least 2017. As a tax-exempt organization, federal regulation restrict transactions that benefit key executives.[4][6][22][23]

NRA v. Ackerman McQueen

On April 12, 2019, the NRA sued Ackerman McQueen for over-billing and lack of transparency. The suit alleged that Ackerman had denied the NRA access to basic business records in support of Ackerman's billing to the NRA, a lack of transparency that “threatens to imminently and irreparably harm” the NRA's nonprofit status.[6][23][24][25][26] Ackerman said the suit was "inaccurate" and "frivolous."[23]

NRATV's editorial scope was a major issue in the lawsuit.[24] Some NRA board members, including Marion Hammer, questioned the value of NRATV to the NRA.[4][22][27][28] According to the NRA in the complaint, “certain NRA stakeholders were also concerned that NRATV’s messaging — on topics far afield of the Second Amendment — deviated from the NRA’s core mission and values.”[29][30][31] NRATV aired segments on immigration and gender identity, warned of possible race wars, and called for a protest march on the FBI, positions never taken by the NRA.[24]

Among the issues in the lawsuit was the NRA's request for details of Ackerman McQueen's $1 million contract with NRA president Oliver North to host NRATV programming. Ackerman McQueen declined to provide the NRA with the full contract, and North through counsel declined to provide the NRA with the contract without Ackerman McQueen consent.[23][24][25][26] The office of NRA president is unpaid. "Oliver North is employed by Ackerman McQueen, a vendor of the NRA. And it is clear that his loyalty is to Ackerman McQueen,” according to NRA board member Marion Hammer. On April 27, 2019 North announced he would not serve a second term.[31]

Noteworthy content

In early April 2017 Dana Loesch, in a one-minute recruitment video entitled The Violence of Lies released as season 2 episode 2 of the NRATV series Freedom's Safest Place, said:

They use their media to assassinate real news. They use their schools to teach children that their president is another Hitler. They use their movie stars and singers and comedy shows and award shows to repeat their narrative over and over again. And then they use their ex-president to endorse the resistance.
All to make them march, make them protest, make them scream racism and sexism and xenophobia and homophobia. To smash windows, burn cars, shut down interstates and airports, bully and terrorize the law-abiding — until the only option left is for the police to do their jobs and stop the madness.
And when that happens, they'll use it as an excuse for their outrage. The only way we stop this, the only way we save our country and our freedom, is to fight this violence of lies with the clenched fist of truth. I'm the National Rifle Association of America, and I'm freedom's safest place.[3][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]

Also in April 2017, in episode 1 of season 7 of the NRATV series Commentators entitled Taking on the Times, and in an August 2017 one-minute promotional video drawn from the episode, NRATV host Dana Loesch said of The New York Times:

We’ve had it with your narratives, your propaganda, your fake news. We’ve had it with your constant protection of your Democrat overlords, your refusal to acknowledge any truth that upsets the fragile construct that you believe is real life. And we’ve had it with your tone-deaf assertion that you are in any way truth or fact-based journalism. Consider this the shot across your proverbial bow. In short? We’re coming for you.[39][40][38][41][42][43]

On the day after the Manchester Arena bombing in May, 2017, on season 1 episode 100 of the NRATV series Stinchfield, NRATV correspondent Chuck Holton attributed terrorism to "multiculturalism," "socialism," and "gender-bending", saying:

And you know in reality, England has had this coming for a long time....Look, they have opened their borders to so many refugees, they have done away with the personal protections, of their own people being able to protect their families with firearms....They are taking advantage of this multiculturalism and the, you know, gender-bending ― we could go on and on about this. The European male is disappearing in Europe ― the actual men who will stand up and fight for their country....In places like Germany, 30 percent of German women have no children and will never have children. In England it’s something like 20 percent, but that’s rising. And so when you’re not making babies, you need people to come in and work and pay taxes to support your massive social welfare programs. So this is, in some ways, this wave of violence that we’re seeing across Europe is a symptom of the broader problem of multiculturalism and socialism.[4][44][45][46][47][48]

In June, 2017 in season 7 episode 4 of the NRATV series Commentators entitled Who Fights For Black Gun Rights? NRATV host Colion Noir said that the Black Lives Matter movement was a "weaponized race-baiting machine, pushing the extreme liberal Democratic agenda, calling any and everything that doesn't fit that agenda 'white supremacy.'"[36][49][50]

On July 18, 2017 in a segment entitled Race Relations Strained in South Africa in episode 138 of season 1 of the NRATV series Stinchfield, NRATV correspondant Chuck Holton warned of race wars in the United States:

Right, you know the parallels between what’s happening in South Africa and the blatant racism and violence we’re seeing from people like the Black Lives Matter crowd, from people like Louis Farrakhan and his minions, is happening in spades in South Africa. The violence against farmers is being called for by government officials, it's being celebrated by politicians, and the scary thing is, it's kind of a warning for what could happen in the United States if we continue to let this get out of control, to go down this path of this racial tension, this racial hatred that is being forced on the American culture by the Black Lives Matter crowd....This has to stop, and if you want to see why it has to stop, you look at South Africa. Over -- between three and four thousand white South Africans have been killed in the most horrific ways, brutalized, raped, tortured, drug behind cars, had drills taken to them. Some really horrific things.[4][22][48][51][52]

On the October 19, 2018 episode of the NRATV series Stinchfield NRATV correspondent Chuck Holton said that George Soros was funding caravans of Northern Triangle immigrants to the United States in time to vote in the November, 2018 mid-term elections, saying “It’s telling that a bevy of left-wing groups are partnering with a Hungarian-born billionaire and the Venezuelan government to try to influence the 2018 midterms by sending Honduran migrants north in the thousands.”[4][23][53][54][55]

Still image from the September 7, 2018 episode of the NRATV program Relentless depicting characters from the children's program Thomas & Friends in Klu Klux Klan hoods.
Relentless, September 7, 2018

Toy manufacturer Mattel, the producers of the children's educational program Thomas & Friends, announced a cultural diversity and gender diversity effort, in collaboration with the United Nations, including adding international settings and a female, African recurring character. On September 7, 2018 in the Final Shot segment of episode 107 of season 1 of the NRATV series Relentless, host Dana Loesch mocked the effort using a graphic of Thomas the Tank Engine and other Thomas & Friends characters in Klu Klux Klan hoods, above a chyron reading "SJW's Now Ruining Childhood." Loesch said the changes to the show were "horrible."[4][6][22][56][57][28][58][59]

Editorial scope

“We’re seeing the rise of a new NRA. It’s long been committed to a die-hard approach to gun policy; they focused like a laser beam on Second Amendment issues. Now it’s focused on immigration, race, health care. We’re seeing the NRA become an extreme right-wing media outlet, not just a protector of guns,” according to Adam Winkler, professor of constitutional law at the UCLA School of Law in 2017.[36]

According to Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America in 2017:

Now that there’s a president in office that their base likes, they have to make Americans afraid of one another. They’re exploiting fear in America to sell guns....They see the future: They’re selling guns to fewer people. Their demographic is older, white men. They have to create a culture war—to make Americans afraid of each other.[36]

"Instead of sticking solely to its pro-gun agenda—pushing for firearms in schools, allowing gun owners to carry concealed weapons across state lines—the group has joined the ranks of Breitbart and Fox News....Like Fox News, NRATV routinely parrots ultraconservative talking points, creating a familiar echo chamber for its viewers," according to The New Republic magazine in 2017.[36]

On NRATV "right-wing politics and cultural signifiers are nearly as prominent as the Second Amendment itself...Hosts have been hyper-critical of NFL players for taking a knee in protest of racial disparities in the criminal justice system. They have hyped fears about undocumented immigrants and opined favorably about the president’s so-called Muslim ban. One host labeled the Black Lives Matter movement 'a weaponized race-baiting machine,'” according to The Daily Beast in February, 2018.[49] NRATV's programming has "veered into culture-war issues at best tangentially related to the Second Amendment," according to The Daily Beast in November, 2018.[60] NRATV hosts "have embraced a larger culture-war style of commentary that dovetails with contemporary conservative rhetoric with frequent media criticism and broadsides against professional athletes who kneel during the national anthem," according to The Daily Beast in December, 2018.[61]

"The final defining characteristic of the network is painting a bleak vision of America, with threats around every single corner and one solution....It’s just a vessel to sell America guns,” according to John Oliver on the HBO program Last Week Tonight in an episode on NRATV from March 4, 2018. The NRA is making “a big push for women,” including through the NRATV series Armed and Fabulous and Love at First Shot, described as “a kind of QVC for firearms” intended to make women more comfortable with firearms, according to Oliver.[62][63][8]

NRATV "offers a spectrum of programming that runs from harmless and hobbyistic gun-nuttery at one end to face-melting propaganda at the other. Fifty percent lifestyle channel, 50 percent gun-lobby orifice, 100 percent tone poem to the radical insecurity of modern American life, it aims to make you purchase firearms," according to The Atlantic magazine in June, 2018.[3]

NRATV is "a hybrid of Breitbart and Infowars," according to Media Matters for America in March, 2018.[1][21] NRATV "regularly spews bigotry, extremist pro-gun talking points, and fact-free defenses of President Donald Trump. While the outlet does sometimes cover gun policy, NRATV is largely a platform where conspiracy theories, white nationalism, and extremism flourish during broadcasts covering a wide variety of topics," according to Media Matters for America in April, 2019.[64]

NRATV host Dana Loesch defended the broad editorial scope of NRATV, saying via Twitter, "Members have many concerns, the attack on our republic’s electoral process among them."[49]

Reception

Ackerman McQueen declined to provide NRATV viewership statistics to the NRA.[65] NRATV had almost 250,000 followers on Twitter in February, 2018.[17] NRATV is "watched by almost no one," according to The Nation magazine in March, 2018.[66] NRATV had 49,000 unique visitors in January, 2019, according to Comscore.[6][65]

Programs and hosts

NRATV produces 34 series,[36] including:

Most NRATV hosts are white.[2]

Availability

The following companies continue to stream NRATV, despite petitions for them to stop:[67]

References

  1. ^ a b c Hargis, Cydney (March 2, 2018). "A guide to NRATV: NRA's news outlet is a hybrid of Breitbart and Infowars". Media Matters for America. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Nuzzi, Olivia (December 8, 2015). "NRA TV: A Day in the Life of an American Gun Nut". The Daily Beast. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Parker, James (June 2018). "Live-Streaming the Apocalypse With NRATV". The Atlantic. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hakim, Danny (March 11, 2019). "Incendiary N.R.A. Videos Find New Critics: N.R.A. Leaders". The New York Times. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Peters, Jeremy W.; Benner, Katie (February 21, 2018). "Where the N.R.A. Speaks First and Loudest". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d e Gross, Terry (May 22, 2019). "Journalist Chronicles The 'Power Struggle' Within The NRA". Fresh Air. NPR.
  7. ^ Lackmeyer, Steve (January 13, 2019). "Ackerman McQueen is relocating to the Monarch Building in Midtown". The Oklahoman.
  8. ^ a b Oliver, John (March 4, 2018). "March 4, 2018: NRATV". Last Week Tonight. HBO.
  9. ^ a b c d Bonazzo, John (February 22, 2018). "Activists Blast Amazon for Streaming NRATV After Florida Shooting". The Observer. United Kingdom. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  10. ^ Creswell, Julie; Hsu, Tiffany (February 23, 2018). "Companies Cut Ties to the N.R.A., but Find There Is No Neutral Ground". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  11. ^ "#StopNRAmazon: Gun control activists target Bezos platform for streaming NRATV". RT International. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  12. ^ Spangler, Todd (February 22, 2018). "Amazon Targeted in Calls to Drop NRA TV App, Which Is Also on Apple TV, Roku". Variety. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  13. ^ Weissman, Cale G. (February 22, 2018). "People are furiously criticizing Amazon over the NRA's streaming TV channel". Fast Company. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  14. ^ Katz, Brandon (February 23, 2018). "Celebs Join Forces to Lobby Amazon to Cut NRA TV". Observer. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  15. ^ Cagle, Tess (February 23, 2018). "#StopNRAmazon demands Amazon drop NRA TV". The Daily Dot. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  16. ^ Hasson, Peter (February 24, 2018). "Joe Scarborough Calls For Censoring NRATV". The Daily Caller. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  17. ^ a b c d e Bonazzo, John (February 25, 2018). "Amazon is getting slammed for streaming NRA TV after the Florida shooting". Business Insider. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  18. ^ a b c d e Meyersohn, Nathaniel. "Gun safety groups want Apple TV and Amazon Fire to pull NRATV". CNN Business. CNN. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  19. ^ Gabbatt, Adam (March 1, 2018). "NRA TV: inside the channel activists are urging Apple and Amazon to axe". The Guardian. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  20. ^ a b c d e Concha, Joe (November 29, 2018). "Layoffs hit NRATV after gun-rights group loses $55M in revenue". The Hill.
  21. ^ a b Johnson, Timothy (November 30, 2018). "Layoffs hit NRATV after gun sales slump in Trump era". Salon. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  22. ^ a b c d Hakim, Danny (April 27, 2019). "N.R.A. President to Step Down as New York Attorney General Investigates". The New York Times. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  23. ^ a b c d e Spies, Mike (April 17, 2019). "Secrecy, Self-Dealing, and Greed at the N.R.A." The New Yorker.
  24. ^ a b c d e Hakim, Danny (April 15, 2019). "N.R.A. Sues Contractor Behind NRATV". The New York Times. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  25. ^ a b Maremont, Mark (April 15, 2019). "NRA Files Suit Against Ad Agency in Rift With Key Partner". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  26. ^ a b "NRA sues its main ad agency for allegedly withholding billing information". Fox News. March 2, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  27. ^ Pane, Lisa Marie (April 24, 2019). "NRA beset by infighting over whether it has strayed too far". Associated Press. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  28. ^ a b Pane, Lisa Marie (April 27, 2019). "NRA Falls Into Internal Turmoil as Some Oppose Top Leadership". Time. Associated Press. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  29. ^ Kovensky, Josh (April 16, 2019). "NRA Sues Its Longtime Advertising Firm, Revealing Major Internal Dispute". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  30. ^ "National Rifle Association of America v. Ackerman McQueen, Inc. and Mercury Group" (PDF). The Washington Post. April 12, 2019. p. 8. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  31. ^ a b "Oliver North will not serve second term as NRA president amid bitter infighting at gun rights group". CNBC. Associated Press. April 27, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  32. ^ Bromwich, Jonah Engel (June 29, 2017). "N.R.A. Ad Condemning Protests Against Trump Raises Partisan Anger". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  33. ^ Holley, Peter (June 29, 2017). "The NRA recruitment video that is even upsetting gun owners". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  34. ^ Bertrand, Natasha (June 29, 2017). "A Chilling National Rifle Association Ad Gaining Traction Online Appears to Be 'An Open Call to Violence'". Business Insider. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  35. ^ Loesch, Dana (April 2017). "The Violence of Lies". Freedom's Safest Place. NRATV. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  36. ^ a b c d e f Reston, Laura (October 3, 2017). "The NRA's New Scare Tactics". The New Republic. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  37. ^ Rozsa, Matthew (June 29, 2017). "The NRA just released a violent, terrifying ad". Salon. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  38. ^ a b Luo, Michael (August 11, 2017). "How the N.R.A. Manipulates Gun Owners and the Media". The New Yorker. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  39. ^ Pane, Lisa Marie (August 27, 2017). "NRA's video message to 'elites': 'We're coming for you'". Associated Press. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  40. ^ Holpuch, Amanda (August 5, 2017). "'We're coming for you': NRA attacks New York Times in provocative video". The Guardian. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  41. ^ Miller, Ryan W. (August 4, 2017). "NRA to 'New York Times': We're coming for you". USA Today. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  42. ^ Loesch, Dana (April 2017). "Taking on the Times". NRATV. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  43. ^ Loesch, Dana (April 2017). "Dana Loesch: We're Coming For You New York Times". NRATV. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  44. ^ Weisser, Mike (May 31, 2017). "NRATV Blames Manchester Attack On Declining White Birth Rate". HuffPost. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  45. ^ Hargis, Cydney (May 23, 2017). "NRATV: "England has had [Manchester attack] coming for a long time" in part because it has "done away" with gun rights". Media Matters for America. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  46. ^ Binckes, Jeremy (May 24, 2017). "NRA TV says the Manchester bombing happened because of "gender bending" and gun control". Salon. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  47. ^ "Chuck Holton: Terror Attack in Manchester". Stinchfield. NRATV. May 23, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  48. ^ a b Rozsa, Matthew (July 19, 2017). "NRA TV asks: Are white people going to be victims of racial violence?". Salon. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  49. ^ a b c d e f Markay, Lachlan; Stein, Sam (February 21, 2018). "NRA Usually Shuts Up After Mass Shootings. Not This Time". The Daily Beast.
  50. ^ Noir, Colion (June 2017). "Who Fights For Black Gun Rights?". Commentary. NRATV.
  51. ^ "NRA's media outlet fearmongers about Black Lives Matter committing mass violence against whites". Media Matters for America. July 19, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  52. ^ "Race Relations Strained in South Africa". Stinchfield. NRATV. July 18, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  53. ^ Serwer, Adam (October 28, 2018). "Trump's Caravan Hysteria Led to This". The Atlantic. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  54. ^ "NRATV correspondent: Migrant caravan is "an invasion under the guise of migration"". Media Matters for America. October 19, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  55. ^ Holton, Chuck (October 19, 2018). "Investigating the Caravan of Immigrants Heading to U.S." Stinchfield. NRATV. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  56. ^ Chokshi, Niraj (September 12, 2018). "N.R.A. Show Puts Thomas the Tank Engine in White Hood to Criticize Diversity Move". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  57. ^ Melas, Chloe (September 14, 2018). "NRA TV depicts 'Thomas & Friends' characters in KKK hoods". CNN. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  58. ^ Perez, Maria (September 11, 2018). "NRA TV Airs Photo of Thomas The Tank Engine In KKK Hood In 'Ethnic Diversity' Segment". Newsweek. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  59. ^ Loesch, Dana (September 7, 2018). "SJW's Now Ruining Chaildhood". Relentless. NRATV. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  60. ^ Markay, Lachlan (November 27, 2018). "The NRA Just Reported Losing $55 Million in Income". The Daily Beast.
  61. ^ a b Markay, Lachlan (December 10, 2018). "Dan Bongino Out at NRATV". The Daily Beast. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  62. ^ Bradley, Laura (March 5, 2018). "What the F--k Is NRATV?" Let John Oliver Explain". Vanity Fair.
  63. ^ a b c d Locker, Melissa (March 5, 2018). "John Oliver Takes Aim at the NRA on Last Week Tonight". Time.
  64. ^ Hargis, Cydney; Le, Miles (April 5, 2019). "The worst of NRATV, the NRA's extremist and bigoted media operation". Media Matters for America. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  65. ^ a b Hakim, Danny (May 14, 2019). "At the N.R.A., a Cash Machine Sputtering". The New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  66. ^ Nakagawa, Scot (March 5, 2018). "NRA TV Is No Joke". The Nation. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  67. ^ "Amazon, Google and Apple under pressure to remove NRA streaming channel". Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  68. ^ "Amazon under fire for streaming NRATV after school shooting". NY Daily News. February 23, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  69. ^ a b c Sloane, Garett (February 23, 2018). "Amazon, Roku and Apple Under Pressure On NRA TV". Advertising Age. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
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