The right-wing cable channel One America News is among the worst purveyors of disinformation today, spewing a steady stream of lies regarding the pandemic, election integrity and other issues. But OAN’s pipeline for its toxic product just got narrower. DirecTV’s recent announcement that it will soon stop carrying the channel has riled some congressional Republicans, but in fact it’s solidly grounded in a principle that conservatives claim to cherish: Let the market decide.
One America News was founded in 2013 as an even further-right platform than Fox News. It rose to national prominence in conservative circles as a staunch Donald Trump backer. Where Fox frequently flirts around the edges of the disinformation sewer on issues like the pandemic and the 2020 election, OAN dives right in.
Its anchors and reporters have outright stated that coronavirus vaccines are causing massive death (they aren’t), that the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the capital was a “false flag” operation organized by “leftists” (it wasn’t), and, of course, that Trump actually won the 2020 election (he didn’t). The network is currently facing nine-figure defamation lawsuits from two election technology companies it slandered with outrageous conspiracy theories about the election.
