One America News Network (OANN)

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One America News Network (OANN), often referred to as One American News (OAN), is a far right-wing cable network launched in 2013 by Herring Networks, a for-profit independent media company founded by conservative businessman Robert Herring [1]. It delivers news from a conservative viewpoint, and is heavily criticized for promoting conspiracy theories and false information in order to push a far-right agenda.

Content

The network has a strongly conservative stance across all subject matter, and established itself as a fervent supporter of Donald Trump during his presidency. While its website includes categories such as sports and entertainment, the bulk of its content is US politics.

As of March 2021, its prime-time lineup consists of Real America, In Focus, Tipping Point, After Hours, and Weekly Briefing. All five are centered around politics and offer an extremely conservative perspective. Its nightly program, Real America, presents itself as “real news for real Americans” created for people who are “sick and tired of the biased, one-sided fake news media that’s been tearing our country apart.” [2] A similar sentiment is expressed across all its major broadcasts.

The Ledger Report

A previous mainstay of the OAN primetime lineup was The Ledger Report hosted by Graham Ledger, who began each episode with his signature catchphrase “Stand by! The doors to the newsroom are locked and the ‘PC police’ are not getting in.” [3]

Ledger was especially vocal about doubting the legitimacy of COVID-19 and criticizing the government’s response to the pandemic, saying he preferred to die of the virus than to “live like a slave” [4] and directly compared lockdown orders to Nazi Germany [5] .

In 2020, ties between Ledger and OANN were cut for unknown reasons. It has yet to be confirmed whether he left of his own accord or was fired by the network [6] . He currently hosts a podcast on YouTube also titled The Ledger Report.

Controversies

White House Press Conferences

The strong support of President Trump granted the network preferential treatment by the White House under his administration. Their correspondents were regularly chosen during press conferences and praised by Trump as a “great network” [7] that “treats [him] very nicely” [8] throughout his term. Trump also regularly tweeted posts and reports by OAN including unfounded claims of election fraud [9] and the Obama administration using the FBI to spy on the Trump campaign [10] , among others.

The network was also granted special privileges during the COVID-19 pandemic. In accordance with CDC social distancing guidelines, representatives from different organizations were given access to the White House briefing room on certain days to avoid crowding. OAN reporter Chanel Rion regularly attended press conferences on days not designated to her, claiming to have been invited by the White House and given permission to circumvent the requirements. She was continually chosen for questions by Trump despite the apparent infraction. [11]

Rachel Maddow Lawsuit

OAN has been engaged in a legal dispute since 2019 against MSNBC correspondent Rachel Maddow, whom they accused of defamation after she referred to the network as “literally paid Russian propaganda.” The court determined that Maddow was speaking in hyperbole [12] and ruled in favor of Maddow in February of 2021, fining OAN $250,000. The network announced its intention to appeal the decision. [13]

YouTube

In 2020, the official OAN YouTube channel was temporarily suspended for spreading misinformation after posting a video claiming that a cure existed for COVID-19. It also received a strike and lost its monetization. [14] Despite public pressure, YouTube did not penalize OAN for posting a video earlier that same month falsely claiming that Donald Trump had won the 2020 presidential election. [15] Youtube gave OANN's channel a one week suspension from monetized content, but never conducted any permanent measures to alter the One America News Youtube channel. The Google-owned video platform has a 3 strike policy in place before an account like OAN can be banned, and since their spread of misinformation on the "covid cure" was their first offense, the channel remains as free and unchecked as before.[16]

Ethical Concerns

Bias

Numerous reports from employees and internal emails have claimed that it’s common for Herring and other executive producers to influence reporting in a way to advance a conservative agenda. While it claims to deliver “straight news, no opinion,” it routinely pushes stories that condemn abortion and downplays police shootings as part of an effort to portray Trump and the Republican party in a positive light. In one case, Herring restricted the reporting of any polling data that did not have Trump in the lead. [17]

Conspiracy Theories

One America News Network is a well documented promoter of conspiracy theories on wide ranging topics, usually with little to no credibility.

Jack Posobiec

OAN features reports by Jack Posobiec, a conspiracy theorist well known for propagating the infamous “Pizzagate” hoax [18] as well as conspiracies surrounding the murder of Democratic National Committee staff member Seth Rich, claiming that he was killed due to investigating crimes of the DNC. [19] During protests over the death of George Floyd, he claimed that pipe bombs were found in Washington DC. [20] A Park Police spokesman later confirmed that this statement was unfounded. [21]

Jack Posobiec's false tweet about the presence of pipe bombs

COVID-19

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, OAN amplified numerous false claims about the origins and seriousness of the virus. Early in the outbreak, it supported the unfounded conspiracy that coronavirus was less deadly than the seasonal flu, stating that the death rate was significantly lower than the World Health Organization found it to be. [22] In 2021, the network ran a headline claiming that there is a “99% chance COVID-19 was lab-made” [23] and an article continuing to circulate claims that hydroxychloroquine is an effective way to treat the virus. [24]

2020 Election

Following the results of the 2020 presidential election, OAN made numerous claims that Donald Trump was the rightful winner despite the race being called in favor of Joe Biden by every credible news source and the results being certified. This included accusations of voter fraud, tampering, and compromised voting machines. [25]

References

  1. Herring, Rob. "LinkedIn Profile"
  2. Ball, Dan. "Real America with Dan Ball -- Weeknights on OAN" 26 September 2020
  3. Ledger, Graham "The Ledger Report Tweet" 16 June 2018
  4. Ledger, Graham "Graham Ledger COVID-19 Tweet" 22 March 2020
  5. Ledger, Graham "Graham Ledger Nazi Germany Tweet" 17 July 2020
  6. Stone, Ken "‘Burnt Out’ or Given Boot? Debate Rages on Graham Ledger’s Exit from OAN" 6 August 2020
  7. OAN. "WATCH: Which Media Outlet Has Gained Pres. Trump's Approval?" 29 August 2017
  8. Trump, Donald "Trump calls on @OANN reporter" 19 March 2020
  9. Trump, Donald "Fraudulent Ballots Tweet" 01 December 2020, 2:31 PM EST
  10. Trump, Donald "Obama Spying Tweet" 15 March 2019, 8:15 AM EST
  11. Farhi, Paul "OANN threatened with removal from White House press room after correspondent Chanel Rion makes unauthorized appearances" 01 April 2020
  12. Conklin, Michael "When 'Literally' Literally Means 'Figuratively': One America News Network v. Rachel Maddow" 19 June 2020
  13. Yasharoff, Hannah "OAN parent company ordered to pay MSNBC, Rachel Maddow $250,000 after losing defamation lawsuit" 09 February 2021
  14. Freiman, Jordan "YouTube suspends One America News Network channel for violating COVID-19 misinformation policy" 25 November 2020
  15. Gandel, Steven "YouTube won't take down video falsely claiming Donald Trump won the election" 10 November 2020
  16. Https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55071344. (n.d.).
  17. Fisher, Marc " An inside look at One America News, the insurgent TV network taking ‘pro-Trump’ to new heights " 05 July 2017
  18. Peters, Jeremy "A Pro-Trump Conspiracy Theorist, a False Tweet and a Runaway Story" 10 June 2017
  19. Sampathkumar, Mythili "Donald Trump's false claim about UK crime rate seems to have come from conspiracy theorist news network" 21 October 2017
  20. Polobiec, Jack "Pipe Bomb Tweet" 02 June 2020
  21. Sommer, Ray "Infamous Pizzagater Jack Posobiec Pushed Hoax About Pipe Bombs Being Planted at Korean War Memorial" 03 June 2020
  22. OAN "Coronavirus outbreak in U.S. on track to be less severe than this year's seasonal flu" 21 April 2020
  23. OAN Newsroom "EXCLUSIVE: 99% chance COVID-19 was lab-made, scientists call out the WHO" 10 March 2021
  24. OAN Newsroom [https://www.oann.com/peer-reviewed-journal-reports-hydroxychloroquine-can-reduce-mortality-rates-in-covid-19-patients/ "Peer-reviewed journal reports hydroxychloroquine can reduce mortality rates in COVID-19 patients "] 30 January 2021
  25. OAN Newsroom "Mounting voting fraud evidence raises suspicions over Democrats’ refusal to allow audit of voting machines" 25 February 2021