Media Forced to Purchase $200 Wi-Fi at Debate, Which is Currently Down

Journalists are being charged $200 for wi-fi Internet access at tonight’s presidential debate. And according to multiple reporters on Twitter, that wi-fi is currently down.

Dear god. @RyanBeckler just sent me this from Hofstra. They're charging $200 for media WiFi access. pic.twitter.com/VSagT6ZerF

— (((Steph Haberman))) (@StephLauren) September 26, 2016

Aaaaaaaaand the $200 Wi-Fi Hofstra forced the reporters to buy at the #debate? It's down.

— emily (((dreyfuss))) (@EmilyDreyfuss) September 26, 2016

Internet down in media filing center. Not a good sign. #debate

— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) September 26, 2016

Gizmodo reports, in correspondence with Politico’s Ken Vogel, that the Commission for Presidential Debates has been vigilant about finding unauthorized hotspots that journalists are trying to use to get around the fee.

Vogel told Gizmodo that, per a CPD technician: “if people refuse to turn off their hot-spots, CPD representatives will be summoned to explain that, if they don’t comply, their credentials will be revoked.”

Right now, those unauthorized hotspots may be the journalists’ only lifeline.

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Follow Joe DePaolo (@joe_depaolo) on Twitter

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