The Boston Globe says columnist John E. Sununu will no longer write about cable and Internet issues because of his financial conflict of interest. Media Matters criticized the paper after it allowed the former Republican senator to complain about the “unnecessary regulation of the internet” without disclosing he has been paid over $750,000 by broadband interests.

In an August 17 column, Sununu attacked the Obama administration for reaching “ever deeper into the economy, pursuing expensive and unnecessary regulation of the internet, carbon emissions, and even car loans.” Sununu serves on the board of directors for Time Warner Cable, and is a paid “honorary co-chair” for Broadband for America, which has been supported by broadband providers and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.

Dan Kennedy, an associate professor of journalism at Northeastern University, wrote that Globe Editorial Page Editor Ellen Clegg stated “Sununu has told me he will avoid writing about issues pertaining to cable and internet access because of his seat on the Time Warner Cable board.” Clegg reaffirmed that the Globe is “posting bios for our regular freelance op-ed columnists online and linking those bios to their bylines” to provide “more transparency.”

She added in her email to Kennedy that Sununu “has also assured me that he will disclose his support of GOP presidential candidate John Kasich in the text of any columns he writes about presidential politics (he is chair of his campaign in New Hampshire.)” Sununu devoted his June 22 column to Donald Trump, writing that he's “running a race where both the chance of winning and the risk of losing are zero.” The piece did not note Sununu's ties to Kasich.

Sununu is also an “Adjunct Senior Policy Advisor” for lobbying firm Akin Gump and “advises clients on a wide range of public policy, strategic and regulatory issues” including “policy and regulation.” Media Matters has noted that Sununu's Globe columns frequently intersect with Akin Gump's subject areas such as environmental regulation.