One America News Network

Country	United States
Broadcast area	United States
Slogan	Your nation, your news
Headquarters	San Diego, California
Programming
Language(s)	English
Picture format	1080i HDTV (downconverted to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed)
Ownership
Owner	Herring Networks
Sister channels	AWE
History
Launched	July 4, 2013; 7 years ago
Links
Website	www.oann.com
Availability
Cable
Verizon FiOS	Channel 116 (SD) Channel 616 (HD)
Satellite
DIRECTV	Channel 347 (HD)
IPTV
CenturyLink Prism	Channel 208 (SD) Channel 1208 (HD)
AT&T U-verse	Channel 208 (SD) Channel 1208 (HD)
AT&T TV	IPTV

One America News Network (OANN), also known as One America News (OAN), is a far-right,^[14] pro-Donald Trump^[22] cable channel founded by Robert Herring Sr. and owned by Herring Networks, Inc., launched on July 4, 2013.^[27] The network is headquartered in San Diego, California, and operates news bureaus in Washington, D.C. and New York City.

Its prime time political talk shows have a conservative perspective, and the channel has described itself as one of the “greatest supporters” of President Trump.^[28] Trump himself has promoted the network.^[4][29][30]

The channel is prominent for promoting falsehoods and conspiracy theories.^[38]

History

OANN was announced on March 14, 2013, by Herring Networks, Inc., a family-owned national video programming company, which also owns sister channel AWE. The OAN channel originally debuted in partnership with The Washington Times,^[39] which had drawn criticism for racist content, including commentary and conspiracy theories about former U.S. President Barack Obama,^[46] supporting neo-Confederate historical revisionism,^[47] and promoting Islamophobia.^[48]

On television, the network predominantly uses the acronym “OAN”, whereas on Twitter it is more frequently known as “OANN”. The network’s web URL domain is at “OANN.com”, but the site banner reads “OAN”.^[49]

OAN president Charles Herring told the Conservative Political Action Conference that “Fox News has done a great job serving the center-right and independent audiences”, but that the audience’s alternative news sources lacked.^[50] Herring also emphasized the network’s separation of news from opinion content. He said that straight news would be reported throughout the day, with limited opinion and commentary on evening talk shows,^[51] including The Daily Ledger, hosted by Graham Ledger, and The Tipping Point, hosted by Liz Wheeler.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2014, OAN relocated its news and production studios, moving from The Washington Times building to a new location at 101 Constitution Avenue NW, near the United States Capitol. This marked the end of OAN’s relationship with The Washington Times, which had provided news and analysis.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2019, OANN said that it reached 35 million homes.^[25] Its website lists availability via DIRECTV, Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, Prism TV, and other distributors.^[52] At the time, OAN had approximately 150 staff.^[25]

At the beginning of 2020, it was reported that Trump allies were looking into purchasing OANN.^[53]

Programming

In August 2014, OAN launched the show On Point with Tomi Lahren. Many clips from the program went viral, and by 2015, Lahren had gained widespread attention for her commentaries. On August 19, 2015, Lahren aired her final show at OAN.^[54][55] On the week of August 24, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin guest hosted a program on the network.^[56][57]

In 2019, the channel aired the Canadian television film Claws of the Red Dragon, which had signed Steve Bannon as its American distributor.^[58]

Content

OAN is known for its pro-Trump content, promotion of conspiracy theories, and criticisms of the mainstream media.^[25] OANN has described itself as one of the “greatest supporters” of Trump.^[28]

Pro-Trump content

OAN is pro-Trump.^{[29][59][60][61][25]} The father of Charles Herring,^[50] Robert Herring Sr., founder and CEO of the network, has ordered producers to promote pro-Trump stories, anti-Clinton stories, and anti-abortion stories, and to minimize stories about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.^[29] Herring prohibited the network from running stories about polls which did not show Trump in the lead during the 2016 election.^[29]

During the 2016 presidential campaign, the channel ran a special titled Betrayal at Benghazi: The Cost of Hillary Clinton’s Dereliction and Greed. Herring, the owner of the channel, sent his producers a report that falsely claimed that Hillary Clinton had a brain tumor, and asked them to check up on it. He also shared a report with producers claiming that Planned Parenthood had promoted abortion, and ordered them to minimize coverage of Pope Francis‘s US visit, due to the Pope’s calls for action on global warming (see Laudato si’). Herring also repeatedly ordered his producers not to cover stories pertaining to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.^[29]

According to former and current employees at the channel, as well as internal e-mails, by July 2017 the executives of the channel had directed the channel to “scuttle stories about police shootings, encourage antiabortion stories, minimize coverage of Russian aggression, and steer away from the new president’s troubles.”^[29]

In October 2017, the channel claimed without evidence that a “report” had been published which showed “U.K. Crime Rises 13% Annually Amid Spread of Radical Islamic Terror”.^[62] President Trump later repeated this falsehood, suggesting that he learned of it from OAN.^[32][63]

In June 2017, OAN was granted a permanent seat in the White House’s James Brady briefing room.^[64] The network’s Chief White House Correspondent, Trey Yingst, was one of the top five most called-upon reporters covering the Trump administration.^[65] President Trump has been repeatedly called for questions from OAN during press conferences, including in February 2017 when Yingst asked the president about his campaign’s contacts with the Russian government.^[66] Also in February 2017, OAN was invited to a network lunch with President Trump.^[67] In August 2017, President Trump praised OAN, saying: “It’s a great network”. In response, OAN CEO Robert Herring said that OAN considers itself a tough but fair presence in the White House press corps.^[68]

OAN supported the Trump administration’s revoking of CNN reporter Jim Acosta‘s press credentials; most major media outlets, including the conservative Fox News, opposed this decision. In a statement, Robert Herring attacked Fox News, saying he “can’t believe Fox is on the other side.”^[69][70][71]

On January 12, 2020, an OANN broadcast promoted debunked conspiracy theories alleging illegal wiretapping of Donald Trump.^[72] OAN broadcasts uninterrupted every speech delivered by President Trump.^[25]

In August 2020, OANN tweeted a promotion for a television segment entitled “America Under Siege: The Attempt to Overthrow President Trump.” The tweet asserted that ongoing demonstrations in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing constituted a “coup attempt” that was “led by a well funded network of anarchists trying to take down the President.” Trump retweeted the message.^[18]

Murder of Seth Rich conspiracy theories

OANN promoted conspiracy theories about the murder of Seth Rich.^[32]

Roy Moore sexual misconduct report controversy

After The Washington Post reported allegations that Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore had made unwanted sexual advances toward teenagers when he was in his thirties, OAN “became a source of both positive coverage and stories that could cast doubt on his accusers.”^[73] In November 2017, OAN aired a segment citing a false rumor by an anonymous Twitter account that The Washington Post had offered $1,000 to Roy Moore’s accusers.^[74][75][76] OAN described the tweet as a “report” and described the tweeter as a “former Secret Service agent and Navy veteran”.^[74][75] The Twitter source had a history of tweeting falsehoods and conspiracy theories; the Twitter account had also made repeated and inconsistent lies about its identity, including appropriating the identity of a Navy serviceman who died in 2007.^[75] After it was revealed that the story was a hoax, OAN did not retract its report.^[74]

During his Senate campaign, Roy Moore cited OAN when he defended himself against the accusations,^[77] including an OAN story that alleged his “Accusers Have Ties to Drug Dealers & Washington Post“.^[77][78][79]

During the night of the Alabama Senate election, OANN announced Moore had swept the election “by a large margin” when, in actuality, Moore had lost the race.^[80] In its announcement, the network cited “unofficial polling”, and the news anchor extended OAN CEO Robert Herring’s congratulations to Moore on having run a “fine campaign.”^[80] OAN’s website also published an erroneous article claiming Moore had won “despite attacks from Democrats about unverified allegations.”^[80] During election night, OAN also reported “a number of people have been caught trying to sneak into voting booths and vote illegally”; however, Alabama Secretary of State’s office said it had no credible reports of voter fraud.^[81]

Conspiracy theory about David Hogg

In February 2018, one of the hosts on OAN tweeted a conspiracy theory that a 17-year-old survivor in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, David Hogg, had been coached to speak against Trump by, and was “running cover” for, his retired FBI agent father.^[82][83] Donald Trump Jr. “liked” the OAN host’s tweet.^[83] The younger Hogg responded, describing the conspiracy theory to Buzzfeed News as “immature, rude, and inhuman.”^[84]

Syria chemical attack

In April 2018, while on an al-Assad regime-led tour of the area of the Douma chemical attack, an OAN correspondent claimed there was no evidence that a chemical attack had occurred.^[85] The correspondent said, “Not one of the people that I spoke to in that neighborhood said that they had seen anything or heard anything about a chemical attack on that day” and that residents “loved Bashar al-Assad.”^[85]

In May 2019, OAN published a report claiming the White Helmets had admitted to staging fake chemical weapons attacks, which were intended to put blame on the Assad regime. OAN referred to the humanitarian organization, which is partly funded by the US State Department, as “terrorist-linked”. The Daily Beast characterized this story as a “smear” that could be traced directly as Russian disinformation.^[60]

Conspiracy theorist reporter Jack Posobiec

Since 2018, far-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec has been employed by OANN as a political correspondent.^[86] Posobiec was a prominent proponent of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory and of the murder of Seth Rich conspiracy theory.^[25][61][87] In 2020, during the George Floyd protests in Buffalo, New York, Posobiec falsely reported and promoted another unsubstantiated conspiracy theory regarding pipe bombs.^[88]