Earlier this month, Nick Robins-Early took on a tough assignment, considering that it was one he could do from his couch. He watched 16 hours straight of One America News Network, or OAN, a pro-Trump outlet. His story chronicles the day, from innocuous but mind-numbing repeated segments to conspiracy theories. And it reveals the perils of getting news from only a single source: Some of the biggest stories of the day were skipped over entirely.
We talked about his viewing experience and what he learned.
So, why watch 16 hours straight of OAN?
Well, 18 seemed like overkill. There was an actual purpose to watching for that long though, which is that it did really give a sense of what an entire day of coverage looks like from morning news through its prime time programming. It was useful to see how stories are repeated and spin emerges, and be fully immersed in the alternate reality the network creates.
Something I mentioned in the piece was that OAN and other pro-Trump media is often seen through these individual viral moments of egregious falsehoods, but it’s also worth taking a more holistic look at the way these networks operate, in order to understand their purpose.
Was it different than you'd expected, based on your past viewing?
It was different; it was worse. I mean worse in terms of promoting misinformation and pro-Trump falsehoods, but also about its production and professionalism.
I had watched a good amount of OAN before this, but more like specific reports and interviews rather than day-to-day coverage. Watching the channel at length, you get a better understanding of how amateur and banal a lot of it is. It was a little like when the veneer chips off a piece of cheap furniture and you realize the whole thing is basically made from sawdust.
You weren't following other news of the day. How did you start to learn there was major news you were missing?
The biggest moment was OAN cutting to the White House press briefing and seeing legitimate reporters ask about actual news stories. Once I learned, for instance, that Trump had this new scandal revolving around interviews he gave to Bob Woodward, it made me much more aware that this wasn’t the slow news day that OAN was airing. It happened again later on when Trump revealed his SCOTUS picks, and at times the channel would briefly reference or downplay things that I could tell would be a big deal back in the real world. Things broke through whenever OAN couldn’t fully control the narrative.
What was your biggest takeaway?
I think it had to do with the sheer extent of information that you lose when you only pay attention to pro-Trump media and how warping that can be to your perception of the world. Outlets like OAN really do create this alternate reality that leaves people less informed while priming them to distrust Trump’s political opponents and feel under threat. You can imagine that if you really believed all these falsehoods and conspiracies, the next step would be supporting authoritarian actions to address the perceived injustices against you.
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