NBC doesn’t let facts control the narrative.
A sporting goods company is suing NBC News and a Kentucky affiliate for suggesting in a March 23, 2015, report, titled “Bombs for Sale? Popular Stores Sell ‘Dangerous Explosives,'” that the small Oregon-based company makes bombs.
The Today show segment, a version of which also appears on the show’s website, detailed how the company, Tannerite Sports, markets and sells explosive rifle targets, suggesting that the combustible product may pose a serious danger to the public, Bearing Arms reported.
NATIONAL SECURITY ALERT: Why are “bombs for sale” at your local sporting goods store. Dramatic video: http://t.co/Gt0VYIHcAa #RossenReports— Jeff Rossen (@jeffrossen) March 23, 2015
“Our client, Tannerite Sports, LLC, has been publicly defamed by the false and misleading statements in the NBC news piece and the follow-up story by WLEX Communications, LLC,” the firm representing Tannerite Sports said Monday in a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner’s media desk. “The news piece asserts that Tannerite-brand targets are too dangerous to sell to ordinary consumers. To the contrary, Tannerite-brand targets have been safely used for years.”
The Lexington-based affiliate, WLEX-TV, reported in its version of the story that it is illegal under federal law to mix the components used in making the explosive rifle targets – a claim that the sporting goods company and its attorneys vigorously deny, claiming libel and slander.
“Unfortunately, there are many in the media today who are driven by an agenda, and rather than simply tell the facts, they twist the truth. But in this situation, a line has been crossed,” the firm representing the company said. “This is not a case of simply twisting the truth, this news piece included lies and misleading statements to make their point. We are confident of the merits of this case, and that our client will be victorious.”