Journalists must fork over $200 for Wi-Fi at presidential debate

Enlarge / The debate hall at Hofstra University hours before the debate is set to begin. (credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images News)

News organizations attending Monday evening’s presidential debate must pay $200 for a “Secure Wireless Internet Connection” at Hofstra University in New York state. The debate is set to begin at 9pm Eastern.

While profiteering during a high-profile occasion such as this is not unheard of—$15 for a patch cable?—what’s worse is that event staff at Hofstra University are reportedly using a $2,000 device to actively scan for hotspots and other ad-hoc Wi-Fi networks.

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

There was just an announcement in the debate filing center that personal wifi dongles are prohibited, instead you must buy their $200 wifi

— Jim Newell (@jim_newell) September 26, 2016