Dear MoveOn member,
Just a few weeks ago, MoveOn launched a campaign calling on AT&T to shut
down One America News (OAN), the rabidly pro-Trump, white supremacist hate
channel founded and bankrolled by AT&T and carried on its DIRECTV
network.^1
And now, we've just learned that one of OAN's news anchors was actively
involved in the planning for the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and
was in Trump's war room in the lead-up to the insurrection.^2
OAN is in trouble—which is just the opening we need to put an end to the
white supremacist hate channel.
AT&T-owned DIRECTV is the sole national cable provider offering OAN, and
even OAN has admitted it would "go out of business tomorrow" if it were
taken off DIRECTV.^3
We've already launched a viral video calling out AT&T that's gotten nearly
1 million views. Now we're ramping up the pressure with an ad to air
during the November 7 Dallas Cowboys game at AT&T Stadium. Will you chip
in to air the ad and keep the campaign to shut down AT&T's white
supremacist channel going for as long as it takes?
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your
donation will go through immediately:
Express Donate: [ [link removed] ]$5 monthly
Express Donate: [ [link removed] ]$15 monthly
Express Donate: [ [link removed] ]$50 monthly
[ [link removed] ]Donate another amount monthly
[ [link removed] ]Or make a one time gift
OAN is so panicked about being held accountable that its hosts have
started using airtime to ask viewers to call AT&T corporate headquarters
in an effort to keep OAN on the air and counter the wave of angry consumer
calls and actions from MoveOn members and other AT&T customers who are
outraged by the company's behavior.
OAN is even more toxic than Fox News. Its audience is built on lies about
COVID-19, the January 6 insurrection, attacking transgender kids,
and spreading lies about the 2020 election.
It should be shut down—and we have a plan to do it.
The key to our strategy is that AT&T is a highly public consumer brand
that spends lavishly on advertising to promote a welcoming image to people
of all backgrounds. On its website, AT&T claims to "stand for equality"
and support "advancing economic opportunity, overcoming systemic barriers,
and ensuring civil rights for all people."^4
At the same time, AT&T is supporting a TV channel that claims that
transgender people have a "mental illness," compares the Biden
administration's support for vaccines to Nazi Germany, and employs hosts
with close ties to the white supremacist movement.^5,6,7 OAN even held an
on-air fundraiser to support Donald Trump's efforts to push the Big Lie
that the 2020 election was stolen.^8
The latest shocking report is that OAN reporter Christina Bobb was
involved in the January 6 insurrection and huddled with Trump's team as
the insurrection was happening to strategize on how to overturn the
election.^9
The good news is that AT&T and OAN are really feeling the pressure. AT&T's
support for OAN has generated widespread media coverage. AT&T issued a
defensive press response, and OAN's on-air team is begging viewers to
"thank” AT&T for not dropping the channel yet.
If we can raise enough money, we'll be able to run a hard-hitting ad
during the next big Dallas Cowboys home game, right in the hometown of
AT&T's headquarters, on November 7. Will you chip in monthly to get the ad
up and keep up the pressure on AT&T for as long as it takes to hold the
company accountable?
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your
donation will go through immediately:
Express Donate: [ [link removed] ]$5 monthly
Express Donate: [ [link removed] ]$15 monthly
Express Donate: [ [link removed] ]$50 monthly
[ [link removed] ]Donate another amount monthly
[ [link removed] ]Or make a one time gift
Thanks for all you do.
–David, Isbah, Bekir, Melissa, and the rest of the team
Thanks for all you do
Sources:
1. "How AT&T helped build far-right One America News,” Reuters, October 6,
2021
[link removed]
2. "Ahead of Jan. 6, Willard hotel in downtown D.C. was a Trump team
'command center' for effort to deny Biden the presidency," The Washington
Post, October 23, 2021
[link removed]
3. "How AT&T helped build far-right One America News," Reuters, October 6,
2021
[link removed]
4. "We Stand for Equality," AT&T, accessed November 1, 2021
[link removed]
5. "OAN host compares Biden administration's vaccine push to Nazi
Germany," Media Matters for America, October 8, 2021
[link removed]
6. "SPLC Investigation: Far-right OANN anchor Jack Posobiec's rise to
white supremacist movement," Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed
November 1, 2021
[link removed]
7. "OAN is a cesspool of anti-LGBTQ hate. It's supported by these cable
providers and streaming services." Media Matters for America. October 15,
2021
[link removed]
8. "Pro-Trump OAN Reporters Are Blatantly Raising Money For A Bogus
Election 'Audit' In Arizona," BuzzFeed News, May 18, 2021
[link removed]
9. "How AT&T helped build far-right One America News,” Reuters, October 6,
2021
[link removed]
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