AT&T is reportedly One America News’ primary financial backer

Telecoms have long been accused of trying to skew politics, but a new report suggests AT&T might have gone further than most. According to The Verge, Reutersreports that AT&T is a major backer for One America News Network (OAN), a right-wing media outlet YouTube temporarily banned last November for spreading misinformation. While multiple TV providers carry the channel, an OAN accountant testified in 2020 that 90 percent of OAN parent Herring Networks’ revenue, tens of millions of dollars, came through deals with AT&T-owned platforms that included DirecTV.

OAN founder Robert Herring separately testified that AT&T executives inspired him to launch the network in 2013 after looking at a media landscape with relatively few conservative outlets. Court documents also indicated that AT&T offered to buy a 5 percent equity stake in OAN and Herring’s lifestyle channel AWE, although the two ended up choosing a different agreement.

OAN even claimed that one AT&T executive, Aaron Slator, offered to put the channel on DirecTV in return for help lobbying for the satellite broadcaster’s 2014 merger. The Herring family also supposedly met FCC officials to talk about the merger and speak well of AT&T in news stories. AT&T has denied making …read more