Who knew?

OAN started as a fairly middle-of-the-road network, a scrappy upstart in 2016, with no intention of becoming a largely fictional “Trump’s news station.” Obviously, things changed. According to a new report in the NYT, the network still regularly reports that Trump won the election, that it was stolen, and other elements of the big lie. One might ask how people who signed on to a “middle of the road” network could not be producing fiction and the answer becomes obvious, once the money started really rolling in by early 2020, the executives knew the gravy train rode far right.

But even with all the money coming in, many network employees are furious about the coverage they provided then and especially the coverage they’re still providing. According to the Times, as late as March 28th, the network reported, “There’s still serious doubts about who’s actually president.”

But nowhere near all employees believe the propaganda and many are upset about it. According to the Times:

“In interviews with 18 current and former OAN newsroom employees, 16 said the channel had broadcast reports that they considered misleading, inaccurate or untrue. He added that he and others at OAN disagreed with much of the channel’s coverage. ‘The majority of people did not believe the voter fraud claims being run on the air,’

Mr. Golingan said in an interview, referring to his colleagues,” the report states. “He recalled seeing a photo of someone in the Capitol mob holding a flag emblazoned with the OAN logo. ‘I was like, OK, that’s not good,’ Mr. Golingan said. ‘That’s what happens when people listen to us’.

Did any of these people go to school? “That’s what happens when people listen to us?” What else was going to happen! If one puts up an official news-type studio, with official desk-like things, and televise people who look like American anchors (handsome and pretty) and then in very serious tones, they report that some “citizen-scientists” have found alarming evidence that the world may indeed be flat, a lot of the people watching are going to say, “I knew I couldn’t trust those fancy scientists!”

It is called “propaganda.” The original “Fake News” were websites developed in Russia and eastern Europe to “look like” American news sites but say the most ridiculous over the top stuff. Too many people believed it because too many people always believe it, that’s why propaganda works! Why would a television station serving nearly the same function be anything but more trustworthy?

What did they expect would happen? It has gotten so bad that many employees want Dominion to sue OAN so that perhaps they’d stop the stories:

“A lot of people said, ‘This is insane, and maybe if they sue us, we’ll stop putting stories like this out.” 

We have terribly bad news for those hoping that Dominion will fix OAN. Lawsuits of that size require significant investment and thus the plaintiff and the plaintiff’s attorneys want to see a return on that investment. OAN might not have enough money to be worth it. If they don’t have enough money, they’ll have to report more sensationalist stuff, which will make them more likely to be sued, in a never-ending cycle.

Everything Trump touches dies, and OAN won’t be an exception.

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak