# Wonder how long this has been in the making...



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

With the short time that has passed since the NBCUniversal purchase by Comcast was FCC-approved...

This news piece last night at MediaBiz seemed beyond "interesting", especially the timing.

http://www.mediabiz.com/news/eveningbridge/



> Leaving the FCC on June 3rd to join the DC office of Comcast/NBCUniversal, Commissioner Meredith Atwell Baker announced her resignation in a letter to President Obama this afternoon....
> 
> ...Not long ago, the Commissioner was one of the majority voting 4 to 1 to approve Comcast's acquisition of 51% of NBC Universal.


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

Looks like her vote secured her job offer. Corruption at it's finest.


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## ARKDTVfan (May 19, 2003)

yeah no conflict of interest at all:nono::nono2:


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Is corruption so accepted that this will go by unnoticed by the mainstream media?


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## AttiTech (Feb 21, 2011)

:nono: Pathetic


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## klang (Oct 14, 2003)

SayWhat? said:


> Is corruption so accepted that this will go by unnoticed by the mainstream media?


I don't think it has anything to do with corruption being accepted. More like the mainstream media isn't going to call the current administration on it.

I truly hope that is not too political.


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## Karen (Oct 4, 2007)

It wasn't unnoticed by the mainstream media. I heard about it yesterday or the day before. This was published in the NY Times yesterday.

_Meredith Attwell Baker, one of two Republicans on the Federal Communications Commission, was not on Comcast's payroll when she voted to approve its controversial acquisition of NBC Universal, the television powerhouse. But she soon will be. Four months after she endorsed the deal - chastising the F.C.C. for delaying its approval and imposing too many conditions on the merger - she has been hired to be NBC's top Washington lobbyist.​_http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/opinion/13fri3.html


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Can anyone say "congressional investigation"?


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

sigma1914 said:


> Looks like her vote secured her job offer. Corruption at it's finest.


She's obviously an Illinois native, because that's how things are done here.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

> Can anyone say "congressional investigation"?


I can, but I don't imagine the right people will.


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## VDP07 (Feb 22, 2006)

Watching "Capitalism A Love Story" on Sunday put me in a bad mood. The "In-n-Out" burger thread helped a bit by pushing my nostalgia button. This news has me in a bad mood again. Arghhhhh! I'm thinking a long boondocking trip is in order about now.


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## 1980ws (Mar 18, 2008)

Nothing to see here people....move along now...nothing going on folks.

I'm sure she was the best candidate for the job out of thousands.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

SayWhat? said:


> I can, but I don't imagine the right people will.


Al Franken is probably the best bet.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Perhaps we can avoid any political references...the point of the original information is that it appears an FCC regulator who participated in a large industry merger approval migrated to the company they approved a short time after that was completed.

There is no indication anything illegal or inappropriate occurred, however, since the Comcast position didn't likely happen overnight...it would seem reasonable to question any conflict of interest scenarios.

I suspect those will be reviewed and perhaps investigated to some level.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

> I suspect those will be reviewed and perhaps investigated to some level.


If anybody takes notice.

As far as I'm concerned, the merger vote is tainted and should be nullified. A new vote might yield the same result, but it's the principal.


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

SayWhat? said:


> ...A new vote might yield the same result, but it's the principal.


Perhaps you haven't heard the news, but Congress and the FCC no longer have principles.


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## VLaslow (Aug 16, 2006)

Imagine that! Just....imagine!


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## leww37334 (Sep 19, 2005)

http://transition.fcc.gov/commissioners/baker/biography.html

bio indicates she is a lawyer, interesting


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...es-fcc-commissioners-departure-to-comcast.ars



> Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, a key investigative body of Congress. This afternoon, Issa finally decided that the committee would probe FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker's move from the FCC to a top government affairs job at Comcast/NBC Universal.
> 
> In a letter sent to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Issa noted that Baker's departure has "generated questions" due to the fact that Baker recently voted to allow Comcast to buy a majority stake in NBC. Based on Baker's own statements about the process which led to the job offer, Issa says that "it does not appear [Baker] violated any of her legal or ethical obligations in accepting a position with Comcast."
> 
> Still, "because only a short time has passed since the Comcast-NBC Universal merger, it is imperative that the public can trust the integrity of the process." To that end, Issa wants answers to five basic questions in order to "gain a better understanding of the rules that govern Commissioner Baker's departure."


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