NRA Continues Online Newscasts After School Shooting

Screenshot of an NRA News video published on the NRANews.com website on December 18, 2012, four days after one of the nation's deadliest gun massacres took place at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The National Rifle Association may have gone dark on social media following one of the nation’s deadliest shooting sprees at a Connecticut elementary school on Friday, but the pro-gun lobbying organization has continued to publish new online video broadcasts from its official gun-related news arm, NRA News.

NRA News, which is run by the NRA and bills itself as “your first source for Second Amendment news and information,” published a series of new video broadcasts on its section of the organization’s website on Monday and Tuesday.

NRA News, which typically offers a daily afternoon video program called “The Daily News,” on Monday published a new installment leading with the news of the massacre on Friday which took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and resulted in the deaths of 28, including the shooting suspect.

“Topping our news today: Heartbreaking and challenging days ahead for the small town of Newtown, Conn. Today, another somber reminder of that senseless school massacre, when family and friends turned out to say goodbye to two of the littlest victims, Jack Pinto and Noah Pozner, who were both 6 years old,” NRA News host Ginny Simone said at the beginning of the video, later noting that “this tragedy has sparked a national debate on the need for tougher gun laws,” before leading into a call with National Review columnist John Fund.

Another regular live NRA News program broadcast live simultaneously online and on the Sirius XM Patriot Plus network, “Cam and Company,” diverted from its regular show format to devote the entirely of the episodes on Friday and Monday to discuss the Newtown school shooting.

“I thought long and hard about what kind of show to do this weekend,” said host Cam Edwards “…but I can sum up what I would like this program to not be rather than what I’d like this program to be tonight.” It then cut to an image of journalists swarming Newtown mourners at a church service. “More than anything I want to do a respectful show this evening,” Edwards said.

The NRA News website also posted a short video news update hosted by Simone on Tuesday, in which she noted that “as the nation continues to mourn the loss of the 26 innocent victims in the Sandy Hook shooting massacre, President Obama has directed members of his cabinet to propose measures to reduce gun violence, measures which will likely include reinstating the so-called ‘assault weapons ban.'”

Simone also editorialized on the federal assault weapons ban that lapsed in 2004, saying “we all knew [that] was a failed experiment from the start.”

Despite publishing these new news updates, the NRA has not at this time used its various social media accounts to alert followers and fans that they are available. The NRA previously published video news updates to several YouTube Accounts, NRAVideos and NRANews.

H/T: Politico

Latest Idealab
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: