AT&T played key role in founding of far-right conspiracy outlet OAN, channel's president said

[Stevicus]

AT&T played key role in founding of far-right conspiracy outlet OAN, channel's president said in court (msn.com)

AT&T executives played a key role in the birth of far-right conspiracy channel One America News (OAN), according to court documents reviewed by CNN.

The court documents were first reported by Reuters on Wednesday in an in-depth story detailing how AT&T, which is also the parent company of CNN, "helped build" the channel.

The Reuters story said that, in addition to playing a pivotal role in its founding, AT&T remains a crucial revenue stream for the network today. The outlet cited sworn testimony in 2020 from an OAN accountant who said 90% of the channel's revenue is from AT&T-owned platforms.

While CNN was unable to review all of the court documents Reuters obtained for its story, AT&T is by far OAN's largest television distributor.

OAN is a little-watched channel headquartered in San Diego that was founded in 2013 by California businessman Robert Herring. But it has grown in popularity in recent years due in large part to promotion by former President Donald Trump.

The outlet has been notorious for pushing misinformation about the coronavirus as well as being one of the main promoters of the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

But until Reuters published its reporting on Wednesday, little was known about AT&T's role in the founding of the channel.

Herring filed a lawsuit in 2016 against AT&T, alleging the company had violated an agreement to carry his channel on DirecTV, which it owned at the time (AT&T still owns 70% of DirecTV, which has been spun off into a standalone company). In a court document as part of the lawsuit, which was reviewed by CNN, Herring said that when he was thinking about creating a new cable channel, AT&T advised him to launch a news network.

"They told us they wanted a conservative network," Herring said in a 2019 deposition for a separate case. "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."

In the 2016 court document, Herring said a deal worth approximately $100 million over five years had been struck with AT&T to carry his channel on DirecTV after AT&T completed its acquisition of the satellite provider, but that it had reneged.

In another document, also reviewed by CNN, Herring said AT&T had even proposed taking a 5% ownership stake in his company, and that this stake would guarantee OAN a spot on DirecTV's channel lineup.

The ownership stake never materialized, but AT&T ultimately reached an agreement with OAN to carry it on DirecTV after the lawsuit was filed. The terms of that agreement were not disclosed publicly.

In a statement, an AT&T spokesperson said, "AT&T has never had a financial interest in OAN's success and does not 'fund' OAN. When AT&T acquired DIRECTV, we refused to carry OAN on that platform, and OAN sued DIRECTV as a result. Four years ago, DIRECTV reached a commercial carriage agreement with OAN, as it has with hundreds of other channels and as OAN has done with the other TV providers that carry its programming."

"DIRECTV offers a wide variety of programming, including many news channels that offer a variety of viewpoints, but it does not dictate or control programming on the channels," the spokesperson added. "Any suggestion otherwise is wrong. The decision of whether to renew the carriage agreement upon its expiration will be up to DIRECTV, which is now a separate company outside of AT&T."

A spokesperson for AT&T deflected when asked a series of questions from CNN. When asked, for instance, whether AT&T ever discussed acquiring a 5% stake in OAN, the spokesperson only said that it has "never had an ownership stake" in the channel. And when asked whether AT&T representatives ever suggested Herring start a news channel, the spokesperson only said that it initially "refused to carry" it when it acquired DirecTV.

"The only news network we 'fund' is CNN because it's a part of AT&T," the spokesperson said. "Just like we do with MSNBC, Fox News and other news channels, we simply have a commercial carriage agreement with OAN."

Charles Herring, the son of Robert Herring and president of OAN's parent company, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

AT&T's involvement with OAN drew swift criticism on Wednesday after Reuters published its report.

"We are outraged to learn that AT&T has been funneling tens of millions of dollars into OAN since the network's inception," National Association for the Advancement of Colored People President Derrick Johnson said in a statement. "As a result, AT&T has caused irreparable damage to our democracy. The press should inform the American public with facts, not far-right propaganda and conspiracy theories."

"We are sickened by these revelations," Johnson added.

These corporations sure weave a tangled web. It's hard to tell who's on first and who owns what these days. It seems strange that the parent company of CNN would be behind the creation of OAN. Are they trying to play both sides of the fence and profit from dupes on both sides? Or maybe OAN is some kind of "false flag" they're setting up to heat up the political rhetoric between opposing factions? I suppose there could be any number of possibilities here.

 

[Polymath257]

The goal of a company is to make money. This is the case for companies that publish news.

So it makes sense, if there is a split in views, to have branches that serve both sides of the split: money is made from both sides.

News today is mostly *entertainment*, not *information*. Once you realize that, you see why the distortions that exist are there.

 

[Stevicus]

The goal of a company is to make money. This is the case for companies that publish news.

So it makes sense, if there is a split in views, to have branches that serve both sides of the split: money is made from both sides.

News today is mostly *entertainment*, not *information*. Once you realize that, you see why the distortions that exist are there.

Yes, this is all true, although it seems that the news business has regressed quite a bit compared to how it was during the era of Walter Cronkite. Now it seems we've gone all the way back to the yellow journalism of William Randolph Hearst, who once boasted that he created the Spanish-American War.

 

[sun rise]

Yes, this is all true, although it seems that the news business has regressed quite a bit compared to how it was during the era of Walter Cronkite. Now it seems we've gone all the way back to the yellow journalism of William Randolph Hearst, who once boasted that he created the Spanish-American War.

There are a few decent outlets but you're right, much of the media is "yellow" at best.

 

[Polymath257]

Yes, this is all true, although it seems that the news business has regressed quite a bit compared to how it was during the era of Walter Cronkite. Now it seems we've gone all the way back to the yellow journalism of William Randolph Hearst, who once boasted that he created the Spanish-American War.

Agreed. And part of that regression was the repudiation of the 'Fairness Doctrine'. That essentially guaranteed that 'news' would no longer have professional standards and would, instead, be entertainment.

Perhaps the single best thing we could do for our country would be to reinstate that doctrine.

 

[Kooky]

There are a few decent outlets but you're right, much of the media is "yellow" at best.

Including most of the alternatives, i.e. Youtube, Facebook, various "news" websites...

 

[Revoltingest]

Today, OAN is still pushing the dangers of vaccination.
A girl recently became ill from one. But they had no
mention of how many thousands died of Covid 19.
They're also blaming Fauci for many Covid 19 deaths
because he wouldn't approve a horse de-wormer
(Ivermectin) for Covid 19 treatment.

 

[Jose Fly]

Today, OAN is still pushing the dangers of vaccination.
A girl recently became ill from one. But they had no
mention of how many thousands died of Covid 19.
They're also blaming Fauci for many Covid 19 deaths
because he wouldn't approve a horse de-wormer
(Ivermectin) for Covid 19 treatment.

And counties that voted for Trump are dying from COVID at significantly higher rates. OAN's type of disinformation is a main reason, which means they're killing off their own viewers.

Not exactly the smartest group of people.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

"Far-right conspiracy outlet"? Lmao. I guess that means that CNN and MSNBC are far-left conspiracy outlets. Works for me.

 

[Jose Fly]

"Far-right conspiracy outlet"? Lmao.

Um....yes. OAN is most certainly far-right", and given their promotion of conspiracy theories, those two things together make them a "far-right conspiracy outlet". Duh.

I guess that means that CNN and MSNBC are far-left conspiracy outlets. Works for me.

What kind of idiotic reasoning is that? "OAN is a far-right conspiracy outlet, therefore CNN and MSNBC are far-left conspiracy outlets"?

Hilarious.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Um....yes. OAN is most certainly far-right", and given their promotion of conspiracy theories, those two things together make them a "far-right conspiracy outlet". Duh.


What kind of idiotic reasoning is that? "OAN is a far-right conspiracy outlet, therefore CNN and MSNBC are far-left conspiracy outlets"?

Hilarious.

Just seeking equality in idiotic partisan smears. I know the liberals and lefties here hate that.

 

[Jose Fly]

Just seeking equality in idiotic partisan smears. I know the liberals and lefties here hate that.

Really? Would you like to review some of OAN's material? Because I'm sure when we're done, the label "far-right conspiracy outlet" will be established as very accurate.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Really? Would you like to review some of OAN's material? Because I'm sure when we're done, the label "far-right conspiracy outlet" will be established as very accurate.

I'd prefer to watch it myself than take Wikipedia's notorious biases as truth. I have to check to see if I get it. I don't have cable.

 

[Jose Fly]

I'd prefer to watch it myself than take Wikipedia's notorious biases as truth. I have to check to see if I get it. I don't have cable.

Oh, so you're speaking from a place of ignorance. So noted.

 

[Twilight Hue]

"Far-right conspiracy outlet"? Lmao. I guess that means that CNN and MSNBC are far-left conspiracy outlets. Works for me.

I love those imaginative terms. Lol

 

[Kooky]

"Far-right conspiracy outlet"? Lmao. I guess that means that CNN and MSNBC are far-left conspiracy outlets. Works for me.

Of course, what's "far left" and "far right" is often influenced by where one stands on the political spectrum.

For a libertarian socialist like me, a lot of what you would consider the extreme end of the far left would likely look fairly milquetoast centrist or even moderate-right.