Much hash has been made over Jim Scoutten’s comments on Arfcom about what events he feels should receive national TV coverage, including comments here and all over the place. For my part, I stand by my post yesterday because I (to a limited extent) understand where Jim is coming from in his desire to present the shooting sports in the same manner that you see golf.
However, I also understand where Joe is coming from in this post:
In his followup comment he says he doesn’t want put anything “on TV that could alarm the anti-gunners”. I disagree. I am of the opinion that alarming them over Boomershoot then making fools of them is the more appropriate tactic
I think ultimate the issue comes down to the fact that we’re fighting a perception war here – and shockingly enough different people have different beliefs on how exactly that war should be fought. I tend to sway more toward’s Jim’s point of view, especially when you think about the demographics that ShootingUSA is targeting with their show.
However, that’s not to say that I don’t feel that topics such as Knobb Creek, Boomershoot, etc don’t deserve coverage – I just think that there is an outlet better suited to such topics, and thankfully Michael Bane provides that outlet:
SHOOTING GALLERY was the first television show to cover black rifles, full auto shoots (we won two Telly Awards — essentially cable Emmys — for our Knob Creek shows), suppressed firearms, LEO/military simulations, the National Tactical Invitational, precision/sniper matches and numerous other parts of OUR culture. SG routinely uses humanoid targets such as “Tactical Teds,” features close-quarter gun-hand-knife techniques and state-of-the-art training. For Season 10, I’ve blocked out shows that have NEVER been done before, by anyone on any channel.
I still Tivo every episode of Shooting Gallery, and ShootingUSA, because they give me two different aspects of the shooting sports – just like Inside the NFL and Baseball Tonight both cover “sports” but two completely different sports.
Finally, as an aside, I have to give Jim Scoutten mad props for continuing to logically and politely engage his detractors on Arfcom. He’s keeping it classy, and that’s part of why I’m a fan.
Exactly. Good Article and isn’t it nice that all the shows are on the same day so it’s easy to tivo them.
I agree with your opinion on the situation. If the Boomershoot guys want television coverage for their event, they should approach Shooting Gallery whose format would fit better. Both sides have valid points, but I’m not going to condemn Jim just because his views on how to handle a controversial subject differs from mine.
Caleb ~
Check out Gila Hayes’ editorials in the Feb and March 2009 issues of the Armed Citizens’ Network eJournal: http://www.armedcitizensnetwork.org/EJournal.html
Can’t help but think it’s just another piece of the same puzzle.