Opinion
Happy anniversary to C-SPAN, with thanks to Brian Lamb
Examiner Editorial
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March 28, 2009
It probably seems to many who read this editorial that C-SPAN has been around forever, and it has indeed been a staple of the Washington scene for a long time, 30 years as of March 19 to be exact. But longevity numbs appreciation for uniqueness. And from its inception by the cable television industry in 1979, C-SPAN has been a unique factor in American public life. For one thing, the way millions of Americans saw Congress was changed forever when C-SPAN cameras began televising floor deliberations. For the first time, anybody with a television set and a cable subscription could tune in and see for themselves how laws are made. It wasn’t long before lawmakers recognized the political value, especially in campaign years, of appearing on C-SPAN in those “One-Minutes,” the 60-second orations delivered to a usually empty House chamber. Today, C-SPAN’s archives hold 156,000 hours of congressional coverage, an invaluable resource to historians. These glimpses of government at work marked the first large crack in the mainstream media’s monopoly of the news process.
Today, an estimated 39 million people tune in to C-SPAN regularly, making it by far the most watched television eye on elected and other government officials, as well as those within and without the official corridors who seek to influence public-policy decisions. There is also a C-SPAN radio network and a C-SPAN web site that is extraordinarily informative. The C-SPAN audience is highly educated, well-informed, geographically balanced and evenly split between liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, according to a survey by pollster Peter Hart. Ninety percent of C-SPAN viewers vote, and more than a third of them contributed to at least one political candidate. A quarter of them have written their congressman or spoken directly to him about a current issue.
Put another way, C-SPAN viewers tend to be the citizens who know more about politics and government and who care most deeply about it. All of this was accomplished entirely with private money invested by the cable television industry as a public service. None of this would have happened without the vision and perseverance of Brian Lamb, C-SPAN’s founder and driving force. Lamb still leads C-SPAN, and his steady hand, deep integrity, and probing interviewing style have earned him a place in the American journalistic pantheon.
Only one goal has eluded Lamb: Greater freedom and access for the cable service. The cameras showing House and Senate proceedings remain under the exclusive control of the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader, which severely limits the visual opportunities for coverage. The cameras have not yet been admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court or elsewhere in the federal judicial system, despite the generally positive experience of state courts that have allowed such coverage. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another 30 years to change this situation.
