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Dear John,
Now that DirecTV has dropped the far-right cable network One America News (OAN), we finally have a chance to deplatform OAN for good.
Let’s get straight to the facts. One America News has been spreading Russian propaganda for years. Their commentator Kristian Rouz was being paid both by OAN and Russian state media outlet Sputnik in 2019.[1] In 2021, the National Intelligence Council determined that a pro-Trump OAN documentary was in part the work of a Russian operative “Putin had purview over” -- named Andriy Derkach.[2] And Derkach also regularly provided material for OAN host Chanel Rion.[3]
OAN is so tied to Russia that when they sued Rachel Maddow for defamation after she called the network “literally paid Russian propaganda,” they lost the lawsuit -- and then lost again in a Ninth Circuit appeal, leaving them on the hook for $250,000 in attorney fees and more than $10,000 to Maddow and her employers.[4]
But here’s the kicker: they’re still on the air -- radicalizing Americans every day.
OAN is a Russian and right-wing propaganda machine. Now that DirecTV has dropped them and only Verizon is left, we have a chance to get them off the air for good. Add your name to tell Verizon to drop OAN now.
Even when they’re not taking cues from Russian operatives, One America News is continually undermining American democracy. They were the biggest supporters of the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. That’s right, even bigger than Fox News.
OAN is facing billion-dollar defamation lawsuits for their Big Lie coverage -- from two Georgia election workers, and from the voting companies Smartmatic and Dominion.[5] During the OAN coverage of the 2020 election, founder Robert Herring Sr. banned the airing of any polls that didn’t show Trump in first place.[6]
One OAN producer saw the network’s flag in the crowds of the January 6 insurrectionists and, after deciding he couldn’t keep spreading voter fraud lies in good conscience anymore, told the New York Times, “That’s what happens when people listen to us.”
Of course, OAN fired him immediately.[7]
We can’t let OAN keep spreading dangerous, authoritarian lies. Sign the petition to demand Verizon drop them without delay.
DirecTV had 90% of OAN’s subscribers. Now, Verizon holds 75% of the remaining subscribers.[8] If they drop the channel, it won’t make a comeback.
It’s time to get OAN off cable for good. Journalistic integrity -- and the health of our democracy -- demands it.
Thanks for fighting for news that tells the truth.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
[1] “Meet the Propagandists and Conspiracy Theorists Behind the One America News Network,” Mother Jones, June 9, 2020
[2] “Exclusive: How an Accused Russian Agent Worked With Rudy Giuliani in a Plot Against the 2020 Election,” Time, May 28, 2021
[3] “Is OAN the Leading Edge of Russian Misinformation?” The Atlantic, June 11, 2020
[4] “Reporter’s Notebook: One America News parent company loses appeal in Rachel Maddow lawsuit,” San Diego Tribune, August 20, 2021
[5] “Where’s Fox News’s outrage over One America News’s deplatforming?,” Washington Post, January 21, 2022
[6] “Meet the Propagandists and Conspiracy Theorists Behind the One America News Network,” Mother Jones, June 9, 2020
[7] “OAN Producer Fired for Criticizing Accuracy of Network’s Coverage Since Capitol Riot,” The Wrap, April 19, 2021
[8] “OAN Will Have Less Than 5 Million Remaining Pay TV Subscribers Following DirecTV Ouster,” NextTV, January 21, 2022
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