Special Report-How AT&T helped build far-right One America News

Special Report-How AT&T helped physique far-right One America News
By John Shiffman

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – One America News, the far-right web whose fortunes and viewership roseate amid the triumph and tumult of the Trump administration, has flourished with enactment from a astonishing source: AT&T Inc, the world’s largest communications company.

A Reuters reappraisal of tribunal records shows the relation AT&T played successful creating and backing OAN, a web that continues to dispersed conspiracy theories astir the 2020 predetermination and the COVID-19 pandemic.

OAN laminitis and main enforcement Robert Herring Sr has testified that the inspiration to motorboat OAN successful 2013 came from AT&T executives.

“They told america they wanted a blimpish network,” Herring said during a 2019 deposition seen by Reuters. “They lone had one, which was Fox News, and they had 7 others connected the different [leftwing] side. When they said that, I jumped to it and built one.”

Since then, AT&T has been a important root of funds flowing into OAN, providing tens of millions of dollars successful revenue, tribunal records show. Ninety percent of OAN’s gross came from a declaration with AT&T-owned tv platforms, including outer broadcaster DirecTV, according to 2020 sworn grounds by an OAN accountant.

Herring has testified helium was offered $250 cardinal for OAN successful 2019. Without the DirecTV deal, the accountant said nether oath, the network’s worth “would beryllium zero.”

Dallas-based AT&T, a mobile-phone and Internet provider, besides owns amusement elephantine Warner Media, which includes CNN and HBO. AT&T acquired DirecTV successful 2015 and successful August spun disconnected the outer service, retaining a 70% stock successful the new, independently managed company. AT&T’s full U.S. tv subscriber base, including outer and streaming services, fell from 26 cardinal successful 2015 to 15.4 cardinal arsenic of August.

AT&T spokesperson Jim Greer declined to remark connected the grounds astir OAN’s gross streams, citing confidentiality agreements. He said that DirecTV broadcasts “many quality channels that connection viewpoints crossed the governmental spectrum.”

“We person ever sought to supply a wide assortment of contented and programming that would beryllium of involvement to customers, and bash not dictate oregon power programming connected channels we carry,” Greer said. “Any proposition different is wrong.”

Although the contracts are confidential, successful tribunal filings Herring cited monthly fees included successful 1 five-year woody with AT&T. According to an AT&T filing citing Herring’s numbers, those fees would full astir $57 million. Greer said that fig is inaccurate, but declined to accidental however overmuch AT&T has paid to aerial OAN, citing a non-disclosure agreement.

Herring and his big sons ain and run OAN, a subsidiary of their intimately held San Diego-based Herring Networks. Their AT&T woody includes Herring’s different network, a little-watched manner channel, AWE. The Herrings declined interrogation requests.

Herring, who conscionable turned 80, is simply a self-made businessman who amassed a luck successful the circuit committee industry, past turned to tv and boxing promotion. OAN’s power roseate successful precocious 2015, erstwhile it began covering Trump rallies live, astatine a clip erstwhile immoderate of the media inactive saw the New York personage businessman arsenic a longshot statesmanlike contender. The web continues to ablution Trump with attraction and often provides a affable level for his Republican allies.

As president, Trump often urged supporters to ticker OAN. In his last 2 years successful office, Trump touted the network, known arsenic @OANN online, to his 88 cardinal Twitter followers astatine slightest 120 times.

“Hope everybody is watching @OANN close now,” Trump tweeted connected December 1, citing a dubious study astir a motortruck carrying much than 100,000 fake ballots. “Other media acrophobic to show.”

The authorities and national tribunal documents reviewed by Reuters item a lucrative narration for OAN with AT&T, adjacent arsenic the 2 occasionally tangled successful court.

The records see a reported connection by AT&T to get a 5% equity involvement successful OAN and AWE, though the 2 sides yet signed a antithetic deal. The tribunal filings besides mention a committedness by OAN to “cast a affirmative light” connected AT&T during newscasts.

The confidential OAN fiscal records are drawn successful portion from testimony, including by Herring and the accountant, generated during a labour suit brought against OAN by a erstwhile worker and unrelated to AT&T. When that lawsuit went to proceedings past year, the network’s lawyer told the assemblage that AT&T was keeping OAN afloat.

“If Herring Networks, for instance, was to suffer oregon not beryllium renewed connected DirecTV, the institution would spell retired of concern tomorrow,” OAN lawyer Patrick Nellies told the court, a transcript shows.

Researchers who tracked the emergence of blimpish media pillars Rush Limbaugh and Fox News spot similarities betwixt those pioneers to One America News and different caller rightwing networks, peculiarly during their formative years.

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, manager of the Annenberg Public Policy Center astatine the University of Pennsylvania, said the births of Fox News and OAN stock communal threads: wealth and opportunity. She noted that the precocious Republican operative Roger Ailes had the foresight successful the 1990s to urge that Fox make a blimpish quality network.

“If idiosyncratic recognizes there’s a marketplace for thing and there’s a batch of wealth attached to that market, you get a quality outlet,” Jamieson said. “So this is AT&T playing the Roger Ailes role.”

Greer, the AT&T spokesman, called that examination “a ridiculous claim,” noting that different distributors besides transportation OAN.

A BOOST FROM THE INSURRECTION

America’s post-election turmoil, punctuated by the Jan. 6 insurrection astatine the U.S. Capitol, continues to roil the country. Dozens of predetermination administrators successful battleground states Trump mislaid person received a barrage of decease threats, Reuters has reported. A Reuters canvass successful May showed that a 4th of Americans – and 53% of Republicans – wrongly judge Trump won the 2020 election.

OAN caters to this audience. Trump’s nonaccomplishment was OAN’s gain, societal media information show.

The network’s online assemblage soared successful November, aft blimpish mainstay and OAN rival Fox News affirmed Joe Biden’s victory. Trump and his campy blasted Fox. A grounds 767,000 radical installed the OAN app that month, 9 times arsenic galore arsenic successful October, according to information steadfast Sensor Tower. In January, Trump supporters, including astatine slightest 1 carrying an OAN flag, stormed the U.S. Capitol. That month, app installs spiked again to 517,000.

The OAN website averages 8 cardinal visits a period from desktop and mobile users, having peaked astatine 15 cardinal from November done January, information steadfast Similarweb recovered successful an investigation for Reuters. Two successful 3 radical connected desktop computers instrumentality to the website aft an archetypal visit, astir the aforesaid loyalty complaint arsenic Fox News and Newsmax, different rival blimpish quality channel.

One America’s tv ratings are harder to measure, partially due to the fact that it is disposable successful lone astir a 4th of the estimated 121 cardinal TV households successful the United States. Ratings services Nielsen and Comscore, which some amusement that Fox News continues to beryllium the starring cablegram network, bash not merchandise OAN figures. In an interior email, an OAN quality manager told unit that the week of the Capitol battle produced the network’s “best ever” ratings, but gave nary statistics.

OAN says it is the fourth-rated quality network, down Fox, CNN and MSNBC, and up of CNBC, the BBC and Newsmax, but has not provided figures to backmost this up. (Each of these networks, including One America News, pays Reuters fees to people the quality service’s stories, videos and/or pictures.)

Even so, the fig of viewers OAN reaches whitethorn beryllium little important than the benignant of observers it attracts and galvanizes, said John Watson, an American University journalism prof specializing successful morals and media law.

“If you person 12 Americans being fed a fare of untruth, that’s 12 excessively galore – and here, it’s virtually millions,” Watson said of the OAN audience. “When you person that benignant of poisonous power connected wide media, it’s a problem; due to the fact that elections successful the United States thin to beryllium truthful close, a fewer percent points present oregon determination tin truly marque a difference.”

At slightest 1 self-described regular OAN spectator precocious sent a threatening enactment to an predetermination official. In August, Sheila Garcia of Riverside County, California, sent Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold a scathing message. Biden bushed Trump successful Colorado, and Garcia accused Griswold, the state’s apical predetermination official, of treason – informing her that punishments for that transgression are hanging and ineligible injection. “Within respective months you volition person to determine betwixt the two,” Garcia wrote.

In an interview, Griswold said she considered threats similar Garcia’s connection a credible menace connected her life. That menace and dozens of others caused her to question other information measures, she said.

Garcia, 55, told Reuters she’s convinced Biden stole the predetermination and said she gets astir of her quality from OAN. She compared U.S. mainstream media to authorities propaganda outlets successful China and Cuba. Her connection to Griswold, she said, was legal. “If you’re acrophobic of a small aged woman successful a trailer parkland successful California, I consciousness atrocious for you,” she said successful an interview.

Neil W. McCabe, OAN’s erstwhile Washington bureau main and present nationalist governmental analogous for The Tennessee Star, rejects the thought that the web is simply a toxic influence. He said OAN serves an important nationalist relation and has earned loyalty from viewers who stock a akin satellite view.

“When you springiness a dependable to the voiceless, you’re going to enslaved with them,” McCabe told Reuters. “Who other is doing these stories?”

In respective instances, records show, the web broadcast statements and theories that were proven false.

YouTube suspended OAN from making wealth disconnected its YouTube transmission past twelvemonth for, among different things, repeatedly violating its COVID-19 policy, which prohibits contented claiming there’s a guaranteed cure. OAN touts hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial cause promoted by Trump, without technological evidence, arsenic a cure for COVID.

During past summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, OAN aired an unconfirmed study that an aged demonstrator successful Buffalo, New York, who was knocked down and earnestly injured by constabulary was trying to jam the cops’ radios. Trump, citing the OAN story, tweeted that the antheral “could beryllium an ANTIFA provocateur.”

The mendacious accusation went viral. In the 2 days aft the OAN broadcast, one-third of each online references cited the network, an investigation compiled by Zignal Labs for Reuters found.

On January 6, aft Trump supporters broke into the U.S. Capitol, an OAN quality manager cautioned unit via email, “Please DO NOT accidental ‘Trump Supporters Storm Capitol …’ Simply telephone them demonstrators oregon protestors … DO NOT CALL IT A RIOT!!!”

A time later, Herring suggested the riot mightiness beryllium a false-flag cognition by the leftwing Antifa movement. “We privation to study each the things Antifa did yesterday. I don’t deliberation it was Trump radical but lets investigate,” helium emailed OAN producers. The Federal Bureau of Investigation says determination is nary grounds of Antifa engagement successful the riot. All but a fistful of the immoderate 600 suspects charged truthful acold person been rightwing Trump backers.

The adjacent day, Herring tweeted: “If anyone thinks we volition propulsion the champion President America has had, successful my 79 years, nether the bus, you are wrong. We volition proceed to springiness him honorable coverage.”

His web went connected to enactment Trump successful an antithetic way: OAN allowed 2 reporters to rise $605,000 to assistance money a “private” audit of the statesmanlike ballot successful Arizona, contempt Republican officials’ assurances that Biden won the state. According to an OAN executive, they did truthful with the network’s blessing but successful a backstage capacity.

One of the OAN reporters, Christina Bobb, besides worked part-time for the Trump recount ineligible team, according to a caller deposition by Trump’s then-lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani. An OAN enforcement confirmed the arrangement. Bobb, a lawyer and erstwhile Trump medication official, did not reply to a petition for comment.

Five erstwhile OAN producers said successful interviews that they recovered the signifier of reporters raising funds for events they screen unethical, but said OAN’s determination did not astonishment them.

“If determination was immoderate communicative involving Trump, we had to lone absorption connected either the affirmative accusation oregon fundamentally make affirmative information,” said Marissa Gonzales, an OAN shaper from 2019 until she resigned successful 2020. “It was never, ne'er the afloat truth.”

Since March, OAN has sold hours of infomercial clip to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a starring purveyor of mendacious claims the predetermination was stolen. Lindell has utilized that clip connected OAN to repeatedly broadcast his predetermination conspiracy “docu-movies.” A superior Lindell people is Dominion Voting Systems Inc, whose machines number votes successful 28 states and usage insubstantial ballots and records for auditing.

In August, Dominion sued OAN for defamation. “OAN saw a concern opportunity” and fueled bogus conspiracies astir alleged ballot tampering, Dominion contended. “OAN helped make and cultivate an alternate world wherever up is down, pigs person wings,” the suit said.

The network’s lawyers person said successful letters to Dominion that the predetermination sum is protected escaped code and that the Lindell programs see a disclaimer that they are “opinions lone and are not intended to beryllium taken oregon interpreted by the spectator arsenic established facts.”

Other Trump supporters, including Lindell and lawyers Giuliani and Sidney Powell, offered a akin escaped code defence successful related lawsuits brought by Dominion. In August, a national justice said the Lindell, Giuliani and Powell cases should proceed toward trial, noting that the Constitution does not needfully connection “blanket immunity for statements that are governmental successful nature.”

Generally, the web runs fewer commercials compared to its competitors, and erstwhile bureau main McCabe said the paucity of advertizing is simply a benignant of superpower. The network’s reliance connected fees from cable, outer and streaming providers, alternatively of commercials, inoculates it from advertiser boycotts faced by counterparts specified arsenic Fox News and rightwing online quality tract Breitbart, successful McCabe’s view.

“Because they fundamentally unrecorded disconnected the cablegram and outer fees, cipher tin signifier a protestation against One America News,” McCabe said.

AT&T & OAN: ORIGIN STORY

From the aboriginal 1970s to the precocious 1990s, Robert Herring Sr, with sons Charles and Robert Jr, created highly palmy and profitable circuit committee companies. They sold 1 specified concern successful 1988 for astir $52 cardinal and different 2 successful 2000 for $122 million.

In 2004, they created a tv web called WealthTV, a transmission dedicated to affluent lifestyles – yachts, mega-mansions and backstage jets.

It proved to beryllium a pugnacious sell. Most cablegram and outer providers declined to transportation it, adjacent erstwhile the Herrings offered WealthTV astatine a discount, oregon adjacent for free, conscionable to get it connected air. “We went to each spot you could deliberation of, begging to get on,” Herring said past twelvemonth connected his network.

In 2007 and 2008, Herring petitioned the Federal Communications Commission and courts for help, alleging that the ample cablegram providers favored networks they owned oregon co-owned, discriminating against autarkic broadcasters similar him. The providers countered that they had the close to broadcast channels they believed provided the champion content.

The FCC concluded that the providers had exercised due concern discretion and a national tribunal affirmed that decision. The Herring litigation irritated immoderate providers, lawyers for 2 carriers told Reuters, making it adjacent harder to get WealthTV connected cablegram oregon satellite.

Still, the Herrings accidental they developed a bully narration with AT&T, which began carrying WealthTV successful 2006 done U-verse, an Internet set-top container work that tin entree unrecorded TV and video connected demand. By 2012, WealthTV had evolved, carrying quality updates and unrecorded boxing. The Herrings were keen to leverage their existing accumulation facilities successful San Diego to motorboat a 2nd network, either a boxing transmission oregon quality outlet.

In a pivotal infinitesimal for the company, the Herrings accidental successful tribunal filings, depositions and sworn statements, unidentified AT&T executives told them determination was an assemblage for different blimpish quality network. Herring seized the opportunity.

In his 2019 deposition successful the labour suit unrelated to AT&T, the elder Herring said helium created OAN for 2 reasons.

“To marque money, fig one,” Robert Herring said. “But fig two, is that AT&T told america … they wanted a blimpish network.”

The lawyer questioning Herring, Rodney Diggs, followed up.

“So,” the lawyer said, “AT&T benignant of dictated the benignant of web that they wanted. Because determination was an opportunity, you jumped astatine it?”

“Yes, sir,” Herring replied.

EQUITY, CELEBRATION, SURPRISE

A fewer months aft launching OAN successful July 2013, AT&T projected acquiring a 5% involvement successful Herring Networks.

In a sworn statement, OAN president Charles Herring said helium accepted the oral connection successful October 2013. Emails amusement that the 2 sides executed a non-disclosure statement that December and that AT&T due-diligence executives visited the Herrings successful San Diego successful January 2014.

But the equity connection did not materialize into a signed contract. Instead, successful April 2014 the 2 sides signed a much accepted deal: AT&T agreed to wage the Herrings 18 cents per subscriber connected U-verse each period for 5 years. AT&T had 5.7 cardinal U-verse subscribers.

Suddenly, aft years of rejection, the Herrings were players.

The joyousness lasted little than a month. In May 2014, AT&T announced that it planned to get the outer work DirecTV, which had 20 cardinal TV subscribers astatine the time.

This alarmed the Herrings due to the fact that their woody with AT&T was constricted to U-verse. If AT&T moved each its U-verse customers to DirecTV, the Herrings feared they mightiness person nothing, tribunal filings show. OAN would suffer millions of imaginable viewers.

To forestall that, Charles Herring hustled to Los Angeles to spot a cardinal AT&T executive.

LOBBYING FOR AT&T

That executive, according to Charles Herring’s sworn relationship successful a suit the Herrings would aboriginal record against AT&T, was Aaron Slator, past AT&T’s president of contented and advertising.

Slator told him AT&T needed assistance to allay FCC and different officials’ interest that the DirecTV woody – a consolidation of providers – mightiness marque it harder for autarkic networks to get connected the air, Charles Herring said.

So, helium said successful the affidavit, Slator projected a caller deal: If the Herrings lobbied connected AT&T’s behalf, AT&T would aerial OAN and WealthTV connected some U-verse and DirecTV. The Herrings would beryllium paid one-third little per subscriber, but due to the fact that DirecTV had truthful galore much subscribers, the woody could beryllium worthy $100 cardinal implicit 5 years.

The Herrings got to work.

Charles Herring hired a Washington lobbyist and met with FCC officials, FCC records show. He says helium signed a filing of enactment “ghostwritten by AT&T” and sent it to the FCC. He says helium attended a $50,000-per-person Republican fundraiser arsenic portion of the campaign.

The Herrings adjacent offered to aerial affirmative quality astir AT&T connected OAN, the web said successful its suit against AT&T, which said it could not remark connected the litigation.

“Herring’s enactment of AT&T ran deep,” the Herrings’ lawyers wrote. “Herring invited AT&T to utilize OAN’s quality programs to formed a affirmative airy connected the acquisition and advocated for different issues affecting AT&T’s business.”

In tribunal records, AT&T denied it made specified a woody to transportation OAN connected DirecTV if the Herrings lobbied for the merger. “Support for the merger was ne'er a information of oregon portion of immoderate contented agreement,” an AT&T spokesperson precocious told Reuters. Slator, nary longer with AT&T, could not beryllium reached for comment.

Another erstwhile elder AT&T enforcement told Reuters the institution ne'er made quid-pro-quo offers linking web deals to governmental support. “You conscionable don’t premix the two,” helium said.

In immoderate event, the erstwhile enforcement said, specified lobbying by a blimpish quality transmission would beryllium implausible oregon ineffective due to the fact that it would person travel during the presidency of Barack Obama, a Democrat. “The Herrings were not going to person power with Obama’s people,” said the erstwhile AT&T official.

The FCC approved the AT&T-DirecTV woody successful July 2015.

The Herrings accidental AT&T inactive refused to enactment OAN and WealthTV connected DirecTV, leaving them lone connected the shrinking U-verse platform. In March 2016, the Herrings sued AT&T, alleging it had breached an oral promise.

AT&T denied immoderate wrongdoing, issuing a connection astatine the clip that said, “This suit is simply a ploy by Herring to negociate a slanted deal.”

The Herrings won a cardinal pretrial ruling from a national judge, however, and successful March 2017, the lawsuit was settled connected undisclosed terms. A period later, OAN and WealthTV (since renamed AWE) began appearing connected DirecTV.

KEEPING HIS NETWORK

On February 5, 2020, the U.S. Senate, sitting arsenic a assemblage during Trump’s archetypal impeachment proceedings successful Washington, acquitted him of abusing his powerfulness for asking Ukraine’s president to motorboat an probe into then-candidate Biden.

On the aforesaid afternoon, successful a San Diego courtroom, Robert Herring sat earlier a antithetic jury, the 1 that heard grounds from the OAN accountant successful the employment case.

The assemblage had already recovered that OAN had wrongly fired the erstwhile shaper for filing a radical complaint. Now, the assemblage was considering punitive damages. To assistance find an due penalty, the instrumentality allowed the assemblage to perceive grounds astir OAN’s fiscal condition.

In summation to testifying that AT&T provided 90% of Herring Networks’ income, the accountant said the company’s publication worth – the nett worth of its assets – was a humble $16.6 million.

When Herring took the witnesser stand, helium said OAN’s marketplace worth was acold higher. He confirmed a 2020 Wall Street Journal study that pro-Trump backstage equity investors sought to bargain OAN for $250 million. Herring told the tribunal helium had fixed the radical a fewer exclusive months to travel up with the wealth but that it had lone raised $35 million.

“No mode I would merchantability for $35 million,” Herring testified.

For astir 4 decades, Herring had worked intimately with his sons to physique respective palmy businesses, including OAN. The network, helium said, carried sentimental value.

“I americium not definite I privation to merchantability for anything,” helium said.

(Reporting by John Shiffman successful San Diego. Additional reporting by Elizabeth Culliford, Linda So, Jason Szep and Brad Heath. Editing by Ronnie Greene)