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(Enemy of Net Neutrality)Verizon Swallows Net-Neutrality Champion Huffington Post
Verizon Swallows Net-Neutrality Champion Huffington Post
The Nation
Leslie Savan on May 15, 2015
Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post
Most of the coverage of Verizon's planned $4.4 billion acquisition of AOL—and thus of the Huffington Post and other news sites—has been almost giddy about all the moneymaking and technological possibilities. By merging with AOL, Verizon will expand by leaps and bounds into mobile video services and "programmatic ad buying," bringing America's largest mobile company "a new kind of energy and talent," as one venture capitalist enthused. On its end of the pre-nup, AOL will get some much-needed cash and, still crumpled by its disastrous merger with Time-Warner in 2000, some fresh cachet.
... "But whether or not AOL changes its stance on net neutrality, the fact is that the biggest opponent of net neutrality rules is about to acquire one of the biggest proponents.… And AOL's D.C. money presence is a drop in the bucket compared to Verizon's."
And how free would HuffPost be in the future to report on Verizon's and other telecom's involvement in government surveillance of Americans' phone records? Or on Verizon's support of the rightwing, Koch-backed policy-maker, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)? Just days before the Verizon/AOL deal was announced, HuffPost ran a post headlined: "Telecom Sleaze: ALEC and Its Communication's Funders—AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink, Comcast and Time Warner Cable."
I'm just guessing, but that could be the last time we see HuffPost casually refer to Verizon as "sleaze."
Let's say Verizon does eventually spin off HuffPost (the most likely buyer now is German conglomerate Axel Springer, according to Re/code's Kara Swisher); the initial Verizon/AOL merger is pending regulatory approval and is many months away. In the interim, will HuffPost tread anymore lightly on Verizon-volatile issues?
http://m.thenation.com/blog/207449-verizon-swallows-net-neutrality-champion-huffington-post
The Nation
Leslie Savan on May 15, 2015
Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post
Most of the coverage of Verizon's planned $4.4 billion acquisition of AOL—and thus of the Huffington Post and other news sites—has been almost giddy about all the moneymaking and technological possibilities. By merging with AOL, Verizon will expand by leaps and bounds into mobile video services and "programmatic ad buying," bringing America's largest mobile company "a new kind of energy and talent," as one venture capitalist enthused. On its end of the pre-nup, AOL will get some much-needed cash and, still crumpled by its disastrous merger with Time-Warner in 2000, some fresh cachet.
... "But whether or not AOL changes its stance on net neutrality, the fact is that the biggest opponent of net neutrality rules is about to acquire one of the biggest proponents.… And AOL's D.C. money presence is a drop in the bucket compared to Verizon's."
And how free would HuffPost be in the future to report on Verizon's and other telecom's involvement in government surveillance of Americans' phone records? Or on Verizon's support of the rightwing, Koch-backed policy-maker, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)? Just days before the Verizon/AOL deal was announced, HuffPost ran a post headlined: "Telecom Sleaze: ALEC and Its Communication's Funders—AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink, Comcast and Time Warner Cable."
I'm just guessing, but that could be the last time we see HuffPost casually refer to Verizon as "sleaze."
Let's say Verizon does eventually spin off HuffPost (the most likely buyer now is German conglomerate Axel Springer, according to Re/code's Kara Swisher); the initial Verizon/AOL merger is pending regulatory approval and is many months away. In the interim, will HuffPost tread anymore lightly on Verizon-volatile issues?
http://m.thenation.com/blog/207449-verizon-swallows-net-neutrality-champion-huffington-post
2 replies
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