THIS IS A VERY BIG DEAL!
Danny Glover at Beltway Blogroll is reporting this afternoon that C-SPAN has agreed to change its copyright policy to enable bloggers and other citizen media journalists to post clips of congressional hearings and other executive branch regulatory proceedings on Internet sites:
“The Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network, commonly known as C-SPAN, announced in a release today that it is liberalizing its copyright policy for ‘current, future and past coverage of any official events sponsored by Congress and any federal agency — about half of all programming.’
“The network said the move will ‘allow non-commercial copying, sharing and posting of C-SPAN video on the Internet, with attribution.’ The policy will apply to congressional hearings, agency briefings and White House events.
“C-SPAN also said it plans to significantly expand its capitolhearings.org Web site to make it ‘a one-stop resource for congressionally produced webcasts of House and Senate committee and subcommittee hearings.’”
Go here for the rest of the BB report.
This is a very big deal because it empowers bloggers to do a far more comprehensive job of covering Congress than has ever been possible previously. There will be no charge for the video so long as the posting blog includes appropriate credit to C-SPAN.
I’ve said since my very first blog post in November 2004 that the Blogosphere could do more to open up Congress and make it vastly more transparent and accountable than anything the mainstream media has or is likely ever able to do with old media formats. We will see new kinds of congressional coverage and the evolution of new and different relationships between officials and voters as a direct result.
Did I mention that this decision by C-SPAN is a very big deal?
The cable public programming service’s executives are probably more than a little nervous about
this move but I predict in about six months they will be wondering why they didn’t do it a long time ago because they will see their audience grow.
In the meantime, a couple of C-SPAN executives quoted by Glover clearly recognize how making the channel’s video available to bloggers advances the public interest:
“Executive Committee Chairman William Bresnan, the CEO of Bresnan Communications: ‘The C-SPAN board sees this as helping us carry out C-SPAN’s public service mission. The cable industry created this network to allow citizens greater access to their government, and this enhancement appropriately reflects the rapid changes in the online information world.’
“President and co-chief operating officer Rob Kennedy: ‘Giving voice to the average citizen has been a centerpiece of C-SPAN’s journalism since our network’s founding in 1979. As technology advances, we want to continue to be a leader in providing citizens with the tools to be active participants in the democratic process.’”
UPDATE: Speaker Lauds C-SPAN
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is commending –
via a post on her official blog, The Gavel – C-SPAN’s decision to make its video available to bloggers and other citizen journalists for posting on the Internet with appropriate credit.
Pelosi is also challenging House committees to webcast their hearings, though the response there has been somewhat less than frenzied. Still, having the Speaker encourage such webcasts is progress.
