Trump has a new favourite news network – and it’s more right-wing than FOX
June 21, 2019The president has responded to the obscure TV outlets boundless flattery with shout-outs and access
Donald Trump and Fox News are said to have one of the strongest marriages in political showbusiness. But there is a young rival hoping to outfox Fox and catch the US presidents wandering media eye.
The obscure One America News Network (OAN) makes up for its lack of clout or viewers by covering every Trump utterance, recycling conspiracy theories, downplaying Russian threats, bashing the mainstream media and championing the Make America Great Again agenda.
Most Americans have not noticed, but the most powerful one has. The president rewards OAN with shout-outs and access wildly out of sync with its reach, leading some observers to suspect that he is playing OAN and Fox News off one another to ensure their undying affection.
It is a stark example of how Trump as media commentator cuts both ways: while deriding mainstream outlets as enemies of the people, he champions those that offer flattering coverage. Others, however, condemn OAN as a Fox News wannabe that is run on a shoestring with a team of underpaid and inexperienced staff.
An article on the Daily Beast website last month was headlined The Hell of Working at Trumps New Favorite Network, based on interviews with four former OAN employees. One ex-video producer, Ernest Champell, said he was told on his first day at work, Yeah, we like Russia here, and recalled how the network spread conspiracy theories and ran hit jobs on politicians. He quit after four months.
The ex-staff blamed editorial meddling by OANs founder,Robert Herring Sr, 77, a millionaire who made his fortune printing circuit boards. Based in San Diego, California, in 2004 he launched Wealth TV, a cable channel now called AWE (A Wealth of Entertainment) that offers shows such as Dream Cruises and Marijuana Miracle Cure. In 2013, on Independence Day, Herring added One America News.
Or, to be more accurate, is that One America News Network? The URL for OAN had already been acquired and, though not in use, would cost $200,000 or more, whereas OANN was available for $15-20. Roberts son Charles Herring, 53, president of Herring Broadcasting, admitted: So we have a little branding issue, to tell you the truth. People that watch TV know us as OAN; Twitter followers know us as OANN.
The network struggled but jumped aboard the Trump train in the 2016 presidential election. It became the first channel to carry the celebrity billionaire businessmans campaign speeches live and in full, a luxury not afforded to other candidate. This policy has continued during his presidency; not even Fox News broadcasts every speech uninterrupted.
Were the only network that I know of that will carry the presidents speech in its entirety and, regardless of whos the president, Charles Herring said. I really dont care who the president is: left-leaning, right-leaning, you like him, you hate him, it just seems like thats a function of the news.
He added: For that reason we get accused of being a Trump supporter. Theres no doubt that we think some of the results that are coming from this president are simply remarkable and theyre just numbers: unemployment down to 3.2%. Thats a wonderful thing and you would think that we could all applaud that. Unfortunately thats not the case.
Herring claims that OAN which has about 150 staff including six in Washington offers an antidote to other cable news networks emphasis on talking heads and heated argument.
CNN has abandoned straight news in favor of advocacy, he claims, but OAN faces the same charge. Its pundits have included the conservative firebrand Tomi Lahren and Trumps former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and it has served up documentaries such as Betrayal at Benghazi: The Cost of Hillary Clintons Dereliction and Greed. Its two talkshows, Tipping Point with Liz Wheeler and The Daily Ledger with Graham Ledger, lean heavily right. When the White House revoked the CNN correspondent Jim Acostas hard pass, Herring announced that OAN would join the court battle on the administrations side.
The approach has earned Trumps patronage and given OAN an ability to punch above its weight. It claims to be the fourth-rated cable news network, trailing Fox News, MSNBC and CNN but ahead of CNN Headline News, Fox Business Channel, CNBC and BBC World News. It says it has 35 million subscribers and its total viewers at any give time can range from about 150,000 to upwards of half a million.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us