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Polanski podcast makes thousands from Google despite Green leader backing BDS
Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment movement identifies Google as a key 'pressure target' - but 'Bold Politics' has received £3,769.69 in advertising revenue from YouTube this year
A podcast which Zack Polanski presents has reportedly made thousands of pounds from Google, despite the Green Party leader endorsing the BDS movement which identifies the company as a “pressure target” over a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract with the Israeli government.
As reported by The Times, “Bold Politics”, a podcast launched last year featuring Polanski as its front-man, runs a YouTube channel which has received millions of views since it was launched. While Polanski is not a director of Bold Politics, he understood to be contracted as a presenter and receives a share of any profits left after the podcast’s costs. Bold Politics told the Times that the cost pf producing the podcast was significantly greater than any income it generated via YouTube advertising.
The BDS movement has urged people to try and move away from Google due to “Project Nimbus”, the $1.2bn cloud computing contract signed in 2021 between Google, Amazon and the Israeli government.
In a statement to The Times, a spokesman for Bold Politics said that “Many social media platforms are complicit in the genocide of Palestinians. They are also funded by billionaire backers. Like many other progressive channels, we don’t have access to the kind of funding that would enable us to found our own platforms.
“We work within the social media system as it is to use those existing platforms to draw attention to injustice and inequality and reach people across the planet.”
Since Polanski became leader of the Greens, the party has specifically campaigned on the issue of the Palestinians, seeking to present itself as an alternative to the left of the Labour party. However, recent moves by the Burnham government have seen the Greens slide backwards in the polls, with Labour being viewed as likely to win the by election in Holborn & St Pancras next month, in which Polanski is standing as the Green candidate. Recent Green Party election literature in the constituency has shown Polanski against the backdrop of the Palestinian flag and saying that he has been endorsed by “The Muslim Vote” organisation.
Bold Politics, which has been paid £3,769.69 in advertising revenue from YouTube this year, describes itself as a show where “Zack Polanski speaks – and listens – to thinkers, activists and people whose voices deserve to be heard.”
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