OAN bullet points for the TLDR wiki links and text below:
- Robert Herring founded OAN thanks to AT&T funding it.
- AT&T wanted a captured news network to say nice things about them so they funded a far-right disinformation network, OAN. Thanks AT&T.
- Rober Herring was “self made” but also a polluter, and also has an odd/interesting connection to Reagan, and has a wife that is a Russian national. Why do these guys always have ties to Russia?
One America News (OAN), is a far-right,[17] pro-Trump[26] news and political commentary television channel and website founded by Robert Herring Sr. and owned by Herring Networks, Inc., that launched on July 4, 2013.[31] The network is headquartered in San Diego, California, and operates news bureaus in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
The network’s prime-time political talk shows have a conservative perspective, and the channel has described itself as one of the “greatest supporters” of Donald Trump.[34] Trump himself has promoted both the network and some of its hosts.[38] The channel is known for promoting falsehoods and conspiracy theories.[47]
OAN was announced on March 14, 2013, by Herring Networks, Inc., an independent media company founded in 2003 by conservative businessman Robert Herring, Sr. The OAN channel originally debuted in partnership with The Washington Times, a conservative daily newspaper founded by the Unification Church from South Korea.[48][49] Herring said in 2013 that under OAN’s agreement with The Washington Times, the new network could use any Times content, but was not obligated to do so; he also said at the time that between 60 and 65 Herring Broadcasting employees spent “most of their days” on One America.[50]
Reuters reported in October 2021 that it had reviewed court documents showing the network was created in 2013 at the urging of executives of AT&T, which has since been the source of up to 90% of the network’s revenues. In a 2020 deposition, a company accountant testified that lacking a contract with AT&T subsidiary DirecTV, the network’s value “would be zero.” Court documents showed the network promised to “cast a positive light” on AT&T during newscasts.[2]
Herring was born Alson Shelby Herring in a house in northeastern Louisiana in 1941.[1] The family moved to a farm near Bakersfield, California, in 1948, and later moved near Los Angeles. Herring’s father died when he was a teenager; he dropped out of high school and worked to support his family. He would eventually earn his GED.[1]
Perceiving his given first name Alson to sound too feminine, Herring called himself Robert or Bob and legally changed his name to Robert in 2005.[1]
Herring initially worked as a chauffeur and owned several pet shops. In 1972, he acquired a local circuit board factory and renamed it Industrial Circuits. In 1981, he hired Michael Reagan, son of then-President Ronald Reagan, as a salesman at Industrial Circuits.[1] Herring sold Industrial Circuits to Toppan Printing in 1988 for $52 million.[4][1
In 1989, Herring created another circuit board company, Herco Technology, with his sons Charles and Robert Jr. as co-owners. In 1994, a Herco employee reported to his supervisors that the facility in San Diego County was illegally flushing copper, prompting an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In 1995, Herring fired the employee, who sued Herco for retaliation and was awarded $78,400 in damages. In November 1997, Herco pleaded guilty to one count of pollution and agreed to pay a criminal fine of $170,000, following a report by a resident in June. For the next three years, the company received pollution violation notices for releasing copper, silver and cyanide into the environment.[
Personal life
Herring married his first wife when he was 18; they had four children by the time Herring was 24. They divorced in 1977. Herring divorced his second wife in 1997.[1] He married his third wife, a Russian national, in 2000.[1][2] He lives in San Diego.[1]
