The formation of the organization was announced on March 14, 2013 by Herring Networks, Inc., an independent and family-owned national video programming company owns and operates OAN and sister channel AWE (formerly WealthTV; the initialism being an acronym for "A Wealth of Entertainment"). When the network began in 2013 it had a limited partnership with The Washington Times.[2]
The network launched with the intention of targeting a conservative-leaning audience with OAN President Charles Herring telling CPAC that, “Fox News has done a great job serving the center-right and independent audiences...But those who consider themselves liberal have a half dozen or more choices on TV each day from which to get their news.”[11] Herring also stressed the network's separation of news and opinion content, with straight news reporting throughout the day and limited opinion commentary from evening talk shows, including The Daily Ledger hosted by Graham Ledger and The Tipping Point hosted by Liz Wheeler. Early advertisements for the channel touted the network's lack of commentary and focus on straight news reporting.[12] The channel was formally launched on July 4, 2013.
In July 2014, OAN relocated its news and production studios out of The Washington Times Building to its new location at 101 Constitution Avenue NW, near the United States Capitol. The move ended OAN's relationship with The Washington Times, which provided news and analysis,[13] as well as a lease space arrangement, for the network. While its Washington Bureau was previously located within the Times building, OAN remains solely owned and operated, including all editorial control, by Herring Networks, Inc.
In August 2014, OAN launched the show On Point with Tomi Lahren. Many clips of the program later went viral, and Lahren gained widespread attention for her commentaries in 2015. On August 19, 2015, Lahren completed her final show at OAN.[14][15] On the week of August 24, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin guest hosted a program on the network.[16][17]
As of August 2017, One America News Network reached 35 million homes[citation needed ] and had nationwide distribution from DirecTV, Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, CenturyLink PRISM TV, and numerous regional video distributors.[18] OAN can also now be streamed through KlowdTV and their current subscription models which include Russia Today (RT), A Wealth of Entertainment (AWE) and other various programming.[19]
The channel is known for its pro-Trump coverage.[8][20] Robert Herring, Sr., founder and CEO of the network, has ordered producers to promote certain types of content, such as pro-Trump stories, anti-Clinton stories and anti-abortion stories, and minimize stories about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.[8] According to a number of former and current employees at the channel, as well as internal e-mails, the executives of the channel have "directed his channel to push Trump’s candidacy, scuttle stories about police shootings, encourage antiabortion stories, minimize coverage of Russian aggression, and steer away from the new president’s troubles."[8] During the 2016 presidential campaign, the channel ran a special titled "Betrayal at Benghazi: The Cost of Hillary Clinton’s Dereliction and Greed."[8] Herring, the owner of the channel, sent producers at the channel a report falsely claiming that Hillary Clinton had a brain tumor, and asked them to check up on it.[8] He also shared a report with producers that claimed that Planned Parenthood had promoted abortion, and ordered them to minimize coverage of Pope Francis's US visit due to the Pope's calls for action on global warming. (see Laudato si')[8] Herring repeatedly ordered his producers not to cover stories pertaining to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.[8]
In October 2017, the channel said without any evidence that a "report" had been published which showed "U.K. Crime Rises 13% Annually Amid Spread of Radical Islamic Terror".[21] President Trump later repeated this falsehood, suggesting that he learned of it from OAN.[22][23]
In June 2017, One America News was granted a permanent seat in the White House's James Brady briefing room.[24] The network's Chief White House Correspondent, Trey Yingst, was one of the top five most called upon reporters covering the Trump Administration.[25] One America News has been repeatedly called on by President Trump during Presidential press conferences, including one in February 2017 when Yingst asked the President about his campaign's contacts with the Russian government.[26] Also in February 2017, One America News was invited to a network lunch with President Trump.[27] In August 2017, President Trump praised One America News, saying "It's a great network." In response, OANN CEO Robert Herring stated that One America News considers itself a tough but fair presence in the White House press corps.[28]
OAN supported the Trump administration's revoking of CNN reporter Jim Acosta's press credentials. Most major media outlets, including the conservative Fox News, opposed the Trump administration's decision. In a statement, OAN CEO Robert Herring attacked Fox News, saying he "can't believe Fox is on the other side."[29][30][31]
OANN promoted conspiracy theories about the murder of Seth Rich.[10]
After the Washington Post reported allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore that he had molested or made inappropriate sexual contact with a number of women under the age of 18 (including a 14-year old), One America News "became a source of both positive coverage and stories that could cast doubt on his accusers."[32] In November 2017, One America News aired a segment citing a false rumor by an anonymous Twitter account that the Washington Post had offered $1,000 to Roy Moore's accusers.[33][34][35] One America News described the tweet as a "report" and described the tweeter as a "former Secret Service agent and Navy veteran".[33][34] The Twitter account had a history of tweeting falsehoods and conspiracy theories; the Twitter account had also made repeated and inconsistent lies about its identity, including appropriating the identity of a Navy serviceman who died in 2007.[34] After it was revealed that the story was a hoax, One America News did not retract its report.[33]
During his Senate campaign, Roy Moore cited One America News when he defended himself against the accusations.[36] Moore cited a One America News story that alleged that his "Accusers Have Ties to Drug Dealers & Washington Post".[36][37][38]
During the night of the election, OANN announced that Moore had swept the election "by a large margin" when in actuality, Moore ended up losing the race.[39] In its announcement, the network cited "unofficial polling" and the news anchor then extended the OAN CEO Robert Herring's congratulations to Moore on having run a "fine campaign."[39] OAN's website also published an erroneous article claiming that Moore had won, writing that he won "despite attacks from Democrats about unverified allegations."[39] During election night, OAN also said that it had "reports that a number of people have been caught trying to sneak into voting booths and vote illegally"; however, Alabama Secretary of State’s office said that it had no credible reports of voter fraud.[40]
In February 2018, one of the hosts on OAN tweeted a conspiracy theory that a 17-year old survivor in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting had been coached to speak out against Trump by his retired FBI agent father and that Hogg was "running cover" for his FBI agent father.[41][42] Donald Trump Jr. liked the OAN host's tweet.[42] The 17-year old responded, describing the conspiracy theory as "immature, rude, and inhuman".[43]
In April 2018, while on an al-Assad regime-led tour of the area of the Douma chemical attack, a OAN correspondent said that there was no evidence that a chemical attack had occurred.[44] The correspondent said, "Not one of the people that I spoke to in that neighborhood said that they had seen anything or heard anything about a chemical attack on that day" and that residents "loved Bashar al-Assad."[44]
In 2018, OANN hired far-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec as a political correspondent.[45][46][47][48]
In April 2018, OANN ran a segment where it falsely claimed that a California bill would ban the sale of Bibles.[49] Within 24 hours, the OANN video was viewed 2.4 million times on Facebook.[49] Snopes found that the claim was false, and noted that the bill targeted gay conversion therapy.[49]
During the 2018 mid-term campaign, OANN ran a segment where it claimed that Democratic congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar's "father praised the deaths of the Israelis, saying they deserved to die." The Washington Post fact-checker noted that there is no attribution to this statement in the OANN segment. An OANN commentator also claimed that groups connected to the Muslim Brotherhood donated to Campa-Najjar's campaign and that the FEC website showed this. The Washington Post fact-checker said it "couldn’t find evidence of this after searching Campa-Najjar’s filings with the Federal Election Commission." The OANN segment was used in attack ads by Campa-Najjar's Republican opponent Duncan Hunter where Campa-Najjar was falsely tied to terrorism.[50]