Reuters had an absolutely great “Part 1” article yesterday about the surprising close relationship between OAN and AT&T – which apparently help fund its start up and provides about 90% of its money. The article has gotten a bit of attention on social media, though I haven’t seen it covered yet on the TV news.
It's titled "A Reuters Special Report: How AT&T helped build far-right One America News." The article begins -- "One America News, the far-right network whose fortunes and viewership rose amid the triumph and tumult of the Trump administration, has flourished with support from a surprising source: AT&T Inc, the world's largest communications company. "A Reuters review of court records shows the role AT&T played in creating and funding OAN, a network that continues to spread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and the COVID-19 pandemic." The thing is, not all of this detailed investigation required much digging, nor would it stand up to denials. Indeed, it turns out that the head of OAN, Robert Herring Sr, testified under oath in court that the launch of his channel came from AT&T. “They told us they wanted a conservative network,” Herring said during a 2019 deposition seen by Reuters. “They only had one, which was Fox News, and they had seven others on the other [leftwing] side. When they said that, I jumped to it and built one.” The details and current funding only get deeper from there. Including that AT&T provides 90% of the income for Herring Networks, the parent company of OAN -- a figure that, again, comes from OAN's accountant under oath. Although this is only Part 1, it’s very long. However, I think you can jump through much of it, if it's too long. In fact, I skimmed through the middle part because that's where they go into detail about what OAN is and some of their transgressions. I knew some of that, but mainly I was most-interested in the connection with AT&T, which they cover in the beginning section and then return to it again in the third section at the end. You can read the full Part 1 of the series here.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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