C-SPAN in its dirty thirties

IvoShandor — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:42:21 -0800

March 19, 1979 - The United States House of Representatives goes live on television for the first time in history. Footage from the House floor aired on a network created by a consortium of American cable companies. The first member of Congress to speak? Al Gore (Sorry, only seems to be available on Real Player. Embedded video, in case weird link fails). 2009 marks the 30th anniversary of C-SPAN. Since 1979, C-SPAN has broadcast over 19,000 hours of Congressional Committee hearings, 26,000 hours of U.S. House debate. A 2004 viewership survey estimated 42 percent of cable/satellite viewers, across various demographics, watched C-SPAN at least once or twice per week. (Report overview - PDF) In 2006, a Pew report put the number at 59 million "regular" or "sometimes" viewers. (Full report - PDF) C-SPAN was founded by Brian P. Lamb, a naval veteran who was a social aide to Lyndon Johnson and worked for Richard Nixon. In 1986, the U.S. Senate joined the live TV fray when C-SPAN2 began broadcasting. C-SPAN3 began offering further public affairs programming in 1997. None of non-profit C-SPAN networks receive government funding of any kind. The C-SPAN of 2009 reaches 97 million households, a far cry from the 3.5 million households it reached on its inception. C-SPAN and its sister networks have quietly contributed to the political discourse through it's coverage of the House, its advocacy for cameras in the courts, and its many series, such as Book TV and Washington Journal. Much of their video material is available on the web, archived, or streaming. In February 2009 the network released its Second Historians Presidential Leadership Survey, which garnered some noise in the media. There is also evidence that C-SPAN's viewers are more active citizens than their non-C-SPAN viewing neighbors. Although, the network and its programming have sometimes been criticized for conservative bias. Happy late birthday to C-SPAN!

Sunday Paper Pledge Drive?

Miko — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 10:30:22 -0800

Can nonprofit news models save journalism? The advertising-supported, for-profit institutional model of journalism (skip this ad) is on the wane. Except for a few large and successful outlets, investment in comprehensive reporting has suffered from a shrinking bottom line, even as the hoped-for development of citizen journalism has been generally underwhelming. But some see a solution taking shape in not-for-profit, independent, citizen-supported online news organizations that would employ skilled professional journalists. Pointing to the encouraging recent growth of NPR and PBS as news outlets, many industry thinkers are starting to agree that "The only way to save journalism is to develop a new model that finds profit in truth, vigilance, and social responsibility." Editors are beginning to experiment with models like that of Paul Stieger's ProPublica (a sort of reporting clearinghouse), Geoff Dougherty's ChiTown Daily News, The NYC Center for an Urban Future's City Limits, and Scott Lewis' Voice of San Diego. Great idea - will it work?

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C-SPAN in its dirty thirties

Sunday Paper Pledge Drive?