Susan Crawford sees hints of Comcast in Olbermann suspension

Susan Crawford, a former special assistant to President Obama for technology policy, sees a potential culprit in MSNBC's decision to suspend anchor Keith Olbermann last week: maybe Comcast had something to do with it. Comcast is in the midst of a merger with NBC Universal, the owner of MSNBC.

Crawford, whose Twitter handle is @scrawford, tweeted on Saturday: "someone should find out whether any comcast connection to olbermann fracas — and remember Quiz Show plot line."

Asked whether she was serious, Crawford confirmed that she was. She has previously raised concern that the merger might give Comcast the ability to tamper with MSNBC, which has a left-leaning reputation, in order to maintain a positive business relationship with Fox, which has a right-leaning reputation. 

"What happens to MSNBC post-merger?" she wrote in a blog post month. "Right now, it’s providing the only response to Fox News. Comcast won’t want to irritate Fox — you can’t be a pay-TV distributor without Fox News, in the same way that you can’t be a pay-TV distributor without ESPN. Fox News is a truck running downhill."

Crawford has been a vocal critic of cable and phone companies in her calls to reform rules for the communications industry. She is a professor at the Cardozo School of Law in New York.

Olbermann was indefinitely suspended from his position as an MSNBC anchor after Politico reported that he had donated to Democratic candidates in violation of company policy.