Voice of America (NewsGuard Trust Score: 100/100) Taps One America News (22.5/100) to Provide News Services
By Sam Howard and Sofia Rubinson
What happened: One America News (NewsGuard Trust Score: 22.5/100), a right-wing cable news network that NewsGuard has found to repeatedly air false and egregiously misleading information, has been tapped by U.S.-funded Voice of America (Trust Score: 100/100) to provide news programming.
A closer look: Kari Lake, senior adviser for the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA, announced the partnership in an X post on May 6, stating that the change will help ensure that Voice of America has “reliable and credible options as they work to craft their reporting and news programs.”
NewsGuard reviews of OAN’s website and TV programs dating to 2020 have found that the network frequently spreads false claims, particularly about U.S. politics and elections.
In the wake of the 2020 election, the OAN network and site became prominent proponents of baseless claims advanced by Donald Trump that he was the rightful winner of the election. As recently as November 2024, OAN reporter Pearson Sharp said on air: “The 2020 election was bad enough — we all know it was stolen. And friends, I’m afraid 2024 ain’t lookin’ any better. After all, if they figured out how to successfully steal an election last time, why on earth wouldn’t they do it again?”
NewsGuard also found OAN often publishes false claims related to health. For example, an April 2025 article published on the OAN site stated that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine caused 23 percent more deaths in vaccinated people compared to a group that received a placebo in the vaccine’s clinical trial. The clinical trial results actually said that no deaths among study participants were caused by the vaccine.
Voice of America has received the highest NewsGuard trust score since it was first reviewed in 2020.
Articles on the VOA site have typically been fact-based and well-sourced, drawing on firsthand reporting, interviews with academics and other experts, government reports and data, and coverage from other reliable media organizations.
VOA, which is funded by Congress and broadcasts U.S. political news and stories about everyday life in America globally, has undergone significant changes during the second Trump administration.
In December 2024, Trump named Lake, a former TV anchor and Trump ally, to oversee U.S. government-funded media operations, which include VOA, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Martí, among others. Lake has previously promoted baseless election fraud claims and called for the punishment of “lying” journalists.
In March, Trump signed an executive order that placed nearly all of VOA’s 1,300 employees on administrative leave, although a federal judge has temporarily halted that move. Before tapping OAN, VOA ended its contracts with credible news agencies including The Associated Press (Trust Score: 100/100), Reuters (Trust Score: 100/100), and Agence France-Presse (Trust Score: 100/100).
Lake said that OAN will be providing its newsfeed to VOA free of charge.
In a May 2025 emailed statement to NewsGuard, OAN President Charles Herring stated, “Unlike NewsGuard, which took a reported $750,000 from the U.S. Govt, OAN has consistently refused any government funds to avoid so much as the appearance of a conflict of interest, diminishing its independence and journalist integrity. The recent announcement is no exception.” (NewsGuard had a $750,000 contract with the U.S. Defense Department in 2021 to aid in monitoring disinformation campaigns mounted against the United States by China, Russia, and Iran.)
NewsGuard sent an email to Lake’s office, seeking comment on the arrangement, but did not get an immediate response. NewsGuard will continue to monitor and analyze OAN and VOA based on NewsGuard’s nine apolitical credibility and transparency standards.
Reality Check members can read NewsGuard’s detailed Nutrition Labels for OAN and VOA here.