Eric Boehlert: Why Politico's about to get worse

[babylonsister]

Why Politico's about to get worse
New conservative owners
Eric Boehlert
8 hr ago


Is Politico jumping out the frying pan and into the fire?

The influential bible for savvy-obsessed Beltway insiders, Politico already has a strong tendency to disappoint by viewing the world through a Republican prism. Eagerly propping up Dems in Disarray storylines, Politico remains committed to portraying Republicans as being forever shrewd, and stands at the ready to amplify whatever phony outrage the GOP is pushing.

snip//

Politico’s hallmark, clickbait failures are likely to become more pronounced because the publication was just sold for $1 billion to an openly conservative media giant based in Germany, Axel Springer. Named after the company’s founder who has been referred to as Germany’s Rupert Murdoch, all Springer employees must pledge their allegiance to the company’s “Essentials”:

1. We stand up for freedom, the rule of law, democracy and a united Europe.

2. We support the Jewish people and the right of existence of the State of Israel.

3. We advocate the transatlantic alliance between the United States of America and Europe.

4. We uphold the principles of a free market economy and its social responsibility.

5. We reject political and religious extremism and all forms of racism and sexual discrimination.

Politico employees will not have to sign the pledge, according to the New York Times. Still, they will understand what the clear political leanings of their German owners are and that they demand fealty, which could lead American journalists to pander to their bosses. (News reporters signing any kind of worldview “pledge” is a bad idea.)

In a strange, collective oversight though, virtually none of the mainstream media coverage about the blockbuster, $1 billion deal has mentioned the proud conservative preferences of Politico’s new owner. That salient fact regarding the purchase of a powerful political media outlet in Washington, D.C., has been conveniently ignored. Reuters, CNN, CNBC, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal all covered the Politico sale without mentioning the buyer’s politics.

more...

https://pressrun.media/p/why-politicos-about-to-get-worse

[spanone]

1. K&R

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. I really don't know how they arrive at a $1BB sales price.

No real tangible assets...do they even own the building(s) they work in? Yes, brand image is something to monetize, but that depends on the quality of future reportable content. If that degrades, does the company's value follow?

[Budi]

3. The data they've collected on viewers over their yrs of business is the asset.

Voter & personal data is a valuable commodity.
It is now considered a 'real asset'.

[OhZone]

4. Germany's current mainstream right wing -

looks quite left of ours.

[CousinIT]

5. I blocked Politico on twitter long ago. They are garbage already, destined to get only worse. n/t

[PSPS]

6. Charles Pierce dubbed Politico "Tiger Beat on the Potomac." It's just a clickbait site.

Having it change hands like this is certainly not an earth-shaking event.

[NurseJackie]

8. I'm hopeful that it will become a "banned" source. That would be nice.

[NurseJackie]

7. Politico is a JOKE. They'll hire ANYONE who claims to be a "journalist".

It's just a blog.

[sarcasmo]

9. How can Politico be worse?

[crickets]

10. K&R for visibility.