C-SPAN

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Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network
C-SPAN logo
Type cable television network
Branding C-SPAN
Country United States United States
Availability United States United States, online (via c-span.org)
Founder Brian Lamb
Owner National Cable Satellite Corporation
Launch date March 19, 1979
Website c-span.org

C-SPAN (officially, the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network) is an American cable television network dedicated to airing non-stop coverage of government proceedings and public affairs programming.

In addition to C-SPAN Radio and the C-SPAN website, C-SPAN is made up of several television channels:

  • C-SPAN features live coverage of the House of Representatives
  • C-SPAN2 covers the Senate and airs Book TV on weekends
  • C-SPAN3 covers other live events and airs archived historical programming

The bulk of C-SPAN's operations are located on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., but they also maintain archives in West Lafayette, Indiana at the Purdue Research Park under the direction of Professor Robert X. Browning.

Contents

[edit] History

Brian Lamb, C-SPAN's chairman and CEO, conceived of C-SPAN while working at Cablevision, a cable industry trade magazine. C-SPAN was created as a cable-industry financed, non-profit network for televising sessions of the U.S. Congress. It receives no funding from any government source, has no contract with the government, and does not sell sponsorships or advertising. It strives for neutrality and a lack of bias in its public affairs programming.

C-SPAN first went on the air on March 19, 1979, broadcasting a speech by then-congressman Al Gore. C-SPAN2, a spinoff network, covers all live sessions of the U.S. Senate and went on the air on June 2, 1986, with the original channel then focusing on the House. The latest spinoff, C-SPAN3, began broadcasting on January 22, 2001, and shows other government-related live events along with historical programming from C-SPAN's archives.

On October 9, 1997, C-SPAN launched C-SPAN Radio, which broadcasts on WCSP 90.1 FM in Washington, D.C.. The radio station, which is also available on XM and Sirius satellite radio, covers similar events as its sister TV networks, often simulcasting their programming.

All three video channels, plus the radio channel, are globally available through streaming media via the C-SPAN web site. Windows Media Player or a similar media player must be installed to stream videos. Additionally, some programs are archived on the Internet for weeks or for longer times.

On February 12, 2003, C-SPAN launched the Amos B. Hostetter Distance Learning Program with the University of Denver. Steve Scully, Political Editor and Chair of Communication, instructs the course from the C-SPAN center in Washington, D.C. and features prominent guests in politics and journalism who can field questions live to students in Denver over 1,500 miles away. Soon after, the program was also expanded to Pace University in New York.

CampaignNetwork.org is a collaborative project with CQPolitics.com covering election reporting announced on August 31, 2006.[1]

[edit] Coverage

In addition to live coverage of House and Senate proceedings and local and general elections, the three channels air government hearings, press conferences and meetings of various political, media, and non-profit organizations; book discussions, interviews, and occasionally proceedings of the Canadian Parliament, British Parliament, and other governments when they discuss matters of importance to viewers in the U.S. Similarly, the networks will sometimes carry news reports from around the world when major events occur. Newscasts and other broadcasts in foreign languages are dubbed into English.

C-SPAN has submitted requests to air live United States Supreme Court proceedings, but has always been denied camera access. However, the network has aired audio tapes of the Court in session on significant cases and has covered individual Supreme Court Justices' speaking engagements.

C-SPAN is the only cable channel that covers the Republican and Democratic Party quadrennial conventions in their entirety.

Following the death of Ronald Reagan in 2004 and the death of Rosa Parks in 2006, C-SPAN featured live, uninterrupted coverage of the visitors who came to the Capitol Rotunda to pay their final respects.

Additionally, C-SPAN simulcasts NASA Space Shuttle mission launches and landings live, using the footage and audio from NASA TV.

[edit] C-SPAN and the Internet

All of C-SPAN's live feeds are streamed free of charge on its World Wide Web site in Real Media format. Selected C-SPAN programs are archived for the general public on its website for at least two weeks, while others remain permanently accessible. C-SPAN has exclusive rights to all recordings and may charge $30 to upwards of $1000 dollars [1] for access to these House and Senate proceedings.

[edit] Organization

Uncommonly for a television network, C-SPAN is operated as a non-profit organization by the National Cable Satellite Corporation, whose board of directors consists primarily of representatives of the largest cable companies. C-SPAN accepts no advertising; instead, it receives nearly all its funding from subscriber fees charged to cable and DBS operators. Contrary to popular perception, C-SPAN receives no funding from government sources.

[edit] Following

In its early days, cable companies tried to replace C-SPAN with revenue-producing channels. As stated above, C-SPAN is funded by the cable industry; thus, the industry loses money airing C-SPAN. However, C-SPAN had developed somewhat of a "cult following" among political junkies and citizens who had always wanted to see what was really happening with their elected officials. Avid C-SPAN viewers often refer to themselves as "C-SPAN Junkies," "SPANners," or "Spanheads".

Over time, the cable companies and the general public realized that C-SPAN provided a desired and much needed public service; a "window" into the operations of Congress. C-SPAN did not (and most likely will never) have the ratings of the major networks, but its devoted following ensured that it would remain part of the cable industry, and all attempts at replacing it with other channels have long ceased.

[edit] C-SPAN and Intellectual Property

C-SPAN maintains an intellectual property enforcement policy "zealously and actively monitors and protects its intellectual property", C-SPAN also states "C-SPAN video is not in the public domain."[2][3] As an exception, teachers are granted a limited in-classroom license. [4] C-SPAN has engaged in numerous actions to stop parties from making unauthorized uses of their content including cases where the footage is the House and Senate proceedings. (C-SPAN copyrights/trademarks all footage produced/(re-)broadcast with their recording equipment.) Most materials are available for around two weeks prior to entering into C-SPAN pay for access archive where usage is restricted and must be licensed. In Senate and House chambers, live feeds from government--owned recording equipment is released into the public domain as determined by the Speaker and Senate Rules and Administration Committee, respectively. [5]

C-SPAN has not prevented the use of their footage by the major cable television networks. However, C-SPAN has targeted online sites for similar usage. For example, Dem Bloggers received a take down request for clips they had posted. [6] In February of 2006, WRPI's Dennis Karius was fired for airing copyrighted audio from C-SPAN's web stream on his radio program. [7] In May 2006, C-SPAN requested the removal of the Stephen Colbert performance at the White House Correspondent's Dinner from YouTube while allowing it to remain on Google Video [8], causing concern from web bloggers. [9] Websites such as metavid make House and Senate audio video records freely available despite C-SPAN requests to have the content removed.[10]

[edit] Allegations of bias

Despite its stated commitment to providing politically balanced programming, C-SPAN shows such as Washington Journal, Booknotes, Q & A, and Afterwords have been accused of having a conservative bias. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) released a study of C-SPAN's morning call-in show Washington Journal, showing that Republicans were favored as guests over Democrats by a two-to-one margin during a six-month period in 2005, and that people of color are underrepresented. FAIR and critics including guests have charged that the shows Booknotes and Afterwords highlight more conservative authors than liberals.

In 2004, C-SPAN planned to broadcast a speech by Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt paired with a speech by Holocaust denier David Irving. Irving unsuccessfully sued Lipstadt for libel in England in 2000. C-SPAN claimed airing Lipstadt's speech adjacently with Irving's would provide a "balance" of opinions. However, due to the uproar from outraged viewers, liberal groups, and Jewish organizations, C-SPAN canceled the broadcasts of both speeches.

In 2005, the media watchdog group Media Matters for America took issue with the fact that L. Brent Bozell, the head of the Media Research Center, was booked by C-SPAN 2 to interview former CBS producer Mary Mapes on "After Words".[11]

[edit] Past chairmen

  • Bob Rosencrans
  • John Saeman
  • Ed Allen
  • Gene Schneider

[edit] Shows

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "CQPolitics.com, C-SPAN Team Up to Launch CampaignNetwork.org", CQPolitics.com, August 31, 2006.

[edit] External links

  • C-Span sucks community, an alternative community forum that was formed after C-SPAN eliminated the community forum on C-Span.org.
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