MEDIA LOSER:
AT&T CEO John Stankey One America News Network, the self-styled news channel that pumps out pro-Trump propaganda, has received tens of millions in funding from AT&T, according to a stunning new report. Reuters unearthed how the far right channel, which distinguished itself in cable news by peddling the most extreme 2020 election conspiracy theories, is being propped up by the world’s largest communications company: "A Reuters review of court records shows the role AT&T played in creating and funding OAN, a network that continues to spread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and the COVID-19 pandemic." The role that AT&T played in the launch of OAN was revealed by the network’s founder, Robert Herring Sr., in a deposition obtained by Reuters. OAN founder and chief executive Robert Herring Sr has testified that the inspiration to launch OAN in 2013 came from AT&T executives. “They told us they wanted a conservative network,” Herring said during a 2019 deposition seen by Reuters. “They only had one, which was Fox News, and they had seven others on the other [leftwing] side. When they said that, I jumped to it and built one.”. The buck stops at the top, which in this case is AT&T CEO John Stankey. By the way, what makes this bizarre tale even thornier? AT&T owns WarnerMedia, which is the parent company of CNN. So CNN’s parent company is funding OAN. | 