C-Span

C-SPAN To Provide Live Gavel-To-Gavel Convention Coverage

newsdesk@newsonnews.net (Newsdesk) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:41:26 +0000

C-SPAN will provide its national audience with gavel-to-gavel coverage of the 2012 Republican and Democratic presidential nominating conventions (Aug. 27-30 in Tampa for the Republicans, and Sept. 4-6 in Charlotte for the Democrats).

Every minute of both conventions will be televised live on C-SPAN, streamed live on C-SPAN.org, carried live by C-SPAN Radio, and be immediately catalogued and archived in the C-SPAN Video Library.

Each individual speech can be independently viewed and shared via the Video Library. Key speeches from each convention also will be available via C-SPAN’s cable affiliates’ On-Demand platforms. And, C-SPAN will augment its signature live convention coverage with additional content for television, online,and social media -- with its “Convention Hub” providing a central online social experience.

In addition to complete podium coverage, TV programming, airing on the flagship C-SPAN network, will include:

- daily coverage of official party, delegate, and other political events at both conventions;

- cameras around town providing a “delegates’-eye view” of Tampa and Charlotte;

- platform drafting coverage for both parties, including the Republicans in Tampa the week prior to the convention, and for the Democrats, the full Platform Committee meeting August 10-12 in Detroit;

- C-SPAN’s live morning call-in program “Washington Journal” originating each day from the conventions, giving viewers and voters the chances to talk with convention participants and observers;

- C-SPAN’s Sunday interview program “Newsmakers” originating from the convention cities.

C-SPAN coverage will be virtually 24 hours a day throughout the two weeks of the conventions. Viewer calls and social media reactions to the events of the day will
follow each day’s official session, providing an immediate electronic focus-group into national reactions to the speeches and the campaign.

C-SPAN Senior Executive Producer and Political Editor Steve Scully will lead the network’s convention coverage. Scully has covered every convention for C-SPAN since 1992 and has attended every convention since 1980.

C-SPAN Founder, Chairman and CEO Brian Lamb To Receive Al Neuharth Award

newsdesk@newsonnews.net (Newsdesk) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:55:26 +0000

Journalist and media innovator Brian P. Lamb, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of C-SPAN, will be honored as recipient of the Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media, Thursday evening, Oct. 6, at The University of South Dakota.

Lamb is the 25th individual selected by the university and the Freedom Forum since the Al Neuharth Award program began in 1989. The award, recognizing lifetime achievement, is named for USA TODAY and Freedom Forum founder Al Neuharth, a South Dakota native and 1950 USD journalism graduate, who will be on campus to make the presentation.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m., Oct. 6, in the recently renovated Robert L. Slagle Hall Auditorium on the USD campus, 414 East Clark St., Vermillion. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. No tickets are required for general seating, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The 90-minute program will be telecast live on South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

"For three decades, Brian Lamb and his colleagues have pulled back the curtain on our democratic system, resulting in a more informed electorate and making the USA a better nation," Neuharth said. "The C-SPAN networks, created under Brian Lamb's leadership, allow millions of interested citizens to be watchdogs of Washington through the fair, unfiltered and comprehensive coverage of government and the political process."

More than 30 years after C-SPAN's inaugural broadcast in 1979, the network today includes three 24-hour cable television networks, a radio station, C-SPAN.org and 15 other websites and a social media presence that includes Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and YouTube. C-SPAN provides coverage of the day's most important news events online and to cable and satellite customers and radio listeners across the nation, helping ensure a more engaged and informed citizenry.

Lamb's interest in broadcasting began at an early age. Working at various Indiana radio and television stations during his high school and college years, he became something of an industry renaissance man, serving as a disc jockey, media buyer and eventually host of the popular local television program "Dance Date."

Following his graduation from Purdue University, Lamb signed up for a tour of duty with the Navy. His enlistment included a White House assignment in President Lyndon Johnson's administration and the Pentagon public affairs office during the Vietnam War.

After briefly returning to Indiana in 1967, he moved back to Washington, D.C., where he worked as a freelance radio reporter for United Press International, a U.S. Senate press secretary and a White House telecommunications policy staffer.

Less than 10 years later, Lamb secured a job as the Washington bureau chief for Cablevision magazine and began publishing his own biweekly newsletter called The Media Report. During that time, inspired by his work in the fields of broadcasting and journalism, he started to craft his vision of a public affairs network delivered nationally via satellite.

By 1977, Lamb had begun to make that vision a reality. His concept for a news channel that would offer viewers gavel-to-gavel coverage of the U.S. Congress was well-received by cable industry executives. With their support, Lamb established the newly named Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network — C-SPAN — as a not-for-profit company and built one of D.C.'s first satellite uplinks.

On March 19, 1979, C-SPAN was made available to 3.5 million households around the nation. Broadcasting the first televised session of the U.S. House of Representatives, the network ushered in a new era of journalism and a new understanding of objectivity.

C-SPAN had a staff of four at the time of the inaugural 1979 broadcast. Today, C-SPAN has a staff of 275, and its round-the-clock programming is available to 86 million TV households via nearly 7,900 cable systems.

C-SPAN2 -- broadcasting U.S. Senate proceedings and the popular Book TV, featuring 48 hours each week of nonfiction book programming -- was launched in 1986, and C-SPAN3, featuring public affairs events from Washington and around the country, made its debut in 1997. Overnights and weekends, C-SPAN3 spotlights American history with features from award-winning history series. C-SPAN Radio can be heard nationwide on XM Satellite Radio, and worldwide at c-span.org.

Lamb also was C-SPAN's first on-camera interviewer, hosting the network's first viewer call-in program in October 1980. Over the years, he has interviewed Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush, as well as many world leaders such as Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev. For 15 years, beginning in 1989, he interviewed 800 nonfiction authors for the weekly program "Booknotes." Four books of collected interviews have been published based on this series. Currently, Lamb hosts "Q and A," an hour-long interview program on Sunday evenings with experts in politics, media, education or technology.

Lamb and his wife, Victoria, are longtime residents of Arlington, Va., and will be together on their visit to Vermillion and the USD campus.

C-Span Gains Unlikely Hit Thanks to Senator Sanders Filibuster

kevin.coy@newsonnews.net (Kevin Coy) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 16:57:20 +0000

C-Span found itself with thousands of viewers to it's C-Span 2 television channel which covers Senate proceedings, and gaining thousands of online followers as the network broadcast un-interupted coverage of Senator Bernard Sanders' Filibuster.

Brian Stelter of the New York Times writes;

Senator Bernard Sanders, independent of Vermont, started speaking against the Obama administration’s tax cut deal on Friday morning, in full view of C-SPAN2’s cameras, and by lunchtime his old-fashioned filibuster was a social media sensation, with untold thousands of people commenting in real-time on Web sites like Twitter. The live video remains available on C-SPAN’s Web site.

On Friday, a filibuster by Senator Bernard Sanders against the Obama administration’s tax cut deal, televised on C-SPAN2, became a social media sensation.Sensing an opportunity, C-SPAN2 — the Senate-oriented sister channel to C-SPAN, which chiefly covers the House of Representatives — promoted the event on its Web site and Twitter account. Taking lessons from the production values of cable news, a graphic on the bottom of the C-SPAN2 screen told viewers, “ALERT: Sen. Sanders Began What He Calls a Tax Cut Filibuster at 10:25am ET.”

All C-SPAN2 needs now is a clock to tick away the minutes that the senator has been speaking.

C-SPAN Details Campaign 2010 Coverage

kevin.coy@newsonnews.net (Kevin Coy) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 06:44:54 +0000

With control of Congress at stake, C-SPAN, the political network of record, today announces the major elements of its Campaign 2010 general election coverage.

C-SPAN’s Campaign 2010 programming will feature candidate and campaign events, forums, interviews of local political observers -- plus numerous simulcasts of debates from America’s most competitive and high-profile congressional and governor races.

C-SPAN Campaign 2010 Coverage Details

Entire Debates: Partnering with local TV stations, C-SPAN typically airs over 100 candidate debates in their entirety each election cycle. C-SPAN will air debates every weeknight (M-F) in October starting at 8 pm ET, and will re-air major debates on Sundays starting at noon ET.
C-SPAN in the districts and states - New to our campaign coverage, C-SPAN’s two local content vehicles (LCV’s) are travelling the country this election cycle. C-SPAN’s LCV’s are mobile production platforms reporting on the country’s top U.S. House races from those districts, producing streamlined Campaign 2010 content unique to C-SPAN. Meantime, the C-SPAN Digital Bus is visiting states with high-profile Senate and governor races. Journalists in these states are appearing on C-SPAN programs from the Digital Bus via Skype. More information on the LCV’s and Digital Bus here: http://www.c-span.org/Bus/community.
Searchable Video: Also new to C-SPAN for Campaign 2010 is the online C-SPAN Video Library, containing over 160,000 hours of searchable archived C-SPAN programming going back nearly a quarter-century. A free service with no registration, the C-SPAN Video Library takes politics and video to the next level, allowing anyone to find unique political moments. The C-SPAN Video Library can be used to research past candidate statements as well as view current campaign events in their entirety. The C-SPAN Video Library allows you to find it, clip it, and share it.
Online coverage – C-SPAN will provide more election information through our special new website devoted to Campaign 2010, www.c-span.org/politics. This site complements and augments what you see on TV with additional information and video from the top races, and with results on Election Day.
Campaign Video: From the key races, C-SPAN will show the candidates’ latest YouTube videos and TV ads.
Long-form event coverage – C-SPAN will follow candidates on the campaign trail as they deliver speeches, attend rallies and speak at press conferences and on Election Night.
Local Experts – Viewers will get insight into the competitive races from local political observers during C-SPAN’s daily live morning call-in program “Washington Journal” and throughout the day on the C-SPAN Networks.
Social media – Social media users can follow C-SPAN’s political coverage, get schedule updates, share video and news with others, and join the conversation via C-SPAN’s social media platforms (twitter.com/cspan; facebook.com/cspan; youtube.com/cspan; and foursquare.com/cspan).

Craig Caplan is overseeing the network’s Campaign 2010 coverage. He has worked at C-SPAN since 1996 covering Congress and also has served as a producer and later executive producer of “Washington Journal.”

C-SPAN Radio Expands Distribution

kevin.coy@newsonnews.net (Kevin Coy) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:36:20 +0000

C-SPAN Radio today announces a partnership with AudioNowTM that allows listeners to access the station’s programming live by dialing (202) 626-8888 on any phone 24 x 7.

“As an organization that advocates for greater openness in American government, C-SPAN is committed to providing the information people need when they need it on any device, wherever they are,” says Kate Mills, General Manager of C-SPAN Radio. “In today’s mobile society, we need to move with our audience and this technology gives our listeners yet another way to access the political and policy process of government they rely on C-SPAN for.”

“Listening to radio should be as simple as pressing a single speed dial button for the more than 80% of the market that do not access data services on their phones,” says Elan Blutinger, a Managing Director of AudioNow. “C-SPAN’s rich content is a national institution and it will now be available to every mobile phone listener without downloads or the need to access data services.”

(Note: Calling charges and plan charges may apply – users should check with their telecom provider.)

C-SPAN Radio is available in the Washington/Baltimore metropolitan area at 90.1 on the FM dial. Area residents can listen to C-SPAN Radio in their homes 24-hours a day, and commuters can listen to "Washington Journal" and "Washington Today" in the morning and afternoon drive-times respectively. Beyond Washington, C-SPAN Radio is also available on XM Satellite Radio channel 132 and can be heard via the C-SPAN Radio App for the iPhone and iPod touch.

C-SPAN Launches Online Partnership with Bit.ly

kevin.coy@newsonnews.net (Kevin Coy) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 22:07:30 +0000

C-SPAN today announces a partnership with bit.ly, the Internet service that allows users to shorten, share, and track links (URLs).

As a bit.ly enterprise client, C-SPAN will use “cs.pn” for shortening URLs that link to C-SPAN content.

The cs.pn URL will benefit directly and primarily individuals who connect to C-SPAN’s educational resources through social media. C-SPAN social media consumers will recognize the cs.pn URL for delivering content directly associated with or created by C-SPAN, and therefore be assured that it corresponds with the C-SPAN public service mission.

Examples of the new cs.pn URL in action:

URL without cs.pn: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/294262-1

URL using cs.pn: http://cs.pn/bab3DJ

URL without cs.pn: http://www.c-span.org/Topics/Gulf-Coast-Deepwater-Horizon-Oil-Spill.aspx

URL using cs.pn and a custom keyword: http://cs.pn/Gulfoilspill

“Our partnership with bit.ly empowers C-SPAN viewers and followers to better identify and share relevant public affairs content and discussion,” says C-SPAN co-president Rob Kennedy. “The cs.pn short URL helps make C-SPAN’s unfiltered coverage and additional resources more easily recognizable in the social media environment, while making it easier for audience to share our links on platforms like Twitter.”

"We're very pleased to work with C-SPAN to further its public service mission, and to help people identify quality public affairs content online," says bit.ly GM Andrew Cohen.

Landel Hobbs to Serve as New Chairman of C-SPAN Executive Committee

kevin.coy@newsonnews.net (Kevin Coy) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 22:26:58 +0000

The C-SPAN Board of Directors approved the selection of Time Warner Cable Chief Operating Officer Landel C. Hobbs as chairman of the Board’s executive committee at the annual meeting of the cable network’s board this week.

Mr. Hobbs joined the 21-member C-SPAN board in 2005. C-SPAN's board of directors is comprised of top executives of cable operating companies. The C-SPAN board, which has had 133 members since 1979, establishes C-SPAN policy and oversees its financial operations, but is not involved in editorial decision-making.

“C-SPAN is a great organization with a talented leadership team and passionate viewers. I am honored to serve as chairman of its executive committee,” Mr. Hobbs said. “C-SPAN fulfills a critical role in our society. I believe that role of educating Americans on how our government works has never been more relevant and vital than it is today.”

Brian Lamb, C-SPAN CEO and company chairman, said, "Landel Hobbs is the perfect industry leader to guide C-SPAN at this point in its history. He first and foremost is genuinely interested in the civic affairs of this country. Just as important, Landel brings to C-SPAN a terrific understanding of where the world of telecommunications is headed."

Mr. Hobbs replaces Robert Miron, Chairman of Bright House Networks, who served three years as C-SPAN executive committee chair.

Also elected to join the C-SPAN Board: Mike Lovett, President & CEO of Charter Communications and Jeff DeMond, President & CEO of Bresnan Communications.

C-SPAN Launches New Digital Bus and Local Content Vehicle

kevin.coy@newsonnews.net (Kevin Coy) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:48:14 +0000

C-SPAN has launched two new vehicles: "The C-SPAN Digital Bus" and the C-SPAN LCV (Local Content Vehicle).

Partnering with cable affiliates in communities across America, C-SPAN’s new 45’ customized Prevost coach will engage visitors of all ages through interactive multimedia. Digital Bus visitors will experience C-SPAN’s unique public affairs content across high-tech platforms such as HD-TV, the Internet, and radio, encouraging customers to follow "Washington, your way." Hands-on demonstrations will feature the C-SPAN Video Library and the network’s social media offerings and there are special resources for civics teachers and their students.

The C-SPAN Bus program originated in 1993 as a novel affiliate marketing concept which brought C-SPAN into schools and communities nationwide. Within two years, the Bus’s popularity caused C-SPAN’s Board to approve a second travelling C-SPAN Bus. The big yellow

C-SPAN Buses soon became iconic representatives of C-SPAN and the cable industry as the public affairs network partnered with local systems to welcome tens of thousands of students, teachers, and citizens in all 50 states to discuss C-SPAN's programming and free teaching resources.

After launching in Washington, DC this week, the new Digital Bus heads to Chicago for its first official tour, partnering with Comcast for the annual

The two original C-SPAN Buses will retire from service this month, after travelling more than a million miles, including an overseas trip to Hawaii and an overland trip to Alaska.

Why a new bus for C-SPAN? "The C-SPAN Digital Bus opens an exciting new chapter in our network’s community-based cable partnerships," said C-SPAN co-president Susan Swain. "We knew it was time for more than an oil change and our Board agreed that C-SPAN needed a new vehicle showcasing cutting edge technologies to update our community outreach. The new C-SPAN Digital Bus reflects the latest in media and educational technologies." Swain added, "We promise that when this Bus comes to town, it will be noticed. It’s got a ‘wow’ factor, inside and out."

Joining the Digital Bus is another new C-SPAN vehicle, the local content vehicle (LCV), a mobile production platform. The LCV will be staffed by videojournalists who will identify and produce programming from local communities around the country for the C-SPAN Networks - television,

radio, and online. The LCV videojournalists will use state-of-the-art and emerging technologies to produce streamlined content that brings perspectives on public policy beyond those offered solely in the nation’s capital.

The LCV, a Ford Transit Connect, will initially be involved in C-SPAN’s coverage of the 2010 elections. It will also travel to historical sites, non-fiction book events for BookTV, and locations where breaking news is occurring. Meantime, the videojournalist at the wheel will engage local communities by speaking at civic clubs and events, discussing with the local media why the LCV is visiting, and recording interviews with citizens as C-SPAN hears from people outside the Beltway about those public affairs issues most important to them.

"The experimental local content vehicle is C-SPAN’s first off-site entry into the fast-changing environment of media technologies," Swain said. "In many ways, this is a pilot vehicle for C-SPAN, combining cutting-edge media techniques, editorial programming, and connecting the American people one-on-one with C-SPAN. Hopefully, if successful, it will be the first of many C-SPAN multi-tasking local content vehicles traveling around the country reporting from and engaging with local communities."

The LCV initiative is being directed by C-SPAN journalist Mark Farkas, a veteran features producer with the cable public affairs network. Last year Farkas produced C-SPAN’s original feature documentary on the Supreme Court and was an editor for this year’s companion book. In addition to similar projects on the U.S. Capitol and the White House, Farkas was executive producer for C-SPAN's 1999-2000 Peabody Award winning series "American Presidents: Life Portraits" and 1994's "Lincoln-Douglas Debates." He has also shot and produced video journalist programs from places as varied as the campaign trails of the United States to the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bus history

C-SPAN began the Bus program in 1993 as an affiliate and education relations tool and to gather public affairs programming from across the country. The first bus launched in November 1993, the second in 1996.

C-SPAN is retiring the original two buses, now 15 and 16 years old, respectively. Over those years, together they have been driven over a million miles.

The two buses traveled to all 50 states and visited thousands of venues over the program’s 16-plus year history – talking with students, teachers, and the general public about our resources and coverage of public affairs.

The two original buses have been called by various names/tours: C-SPAN School Bus (the longest incarnation – lasting from 1993 to 2007), Book TV Bus (2005-2007), Campaign 2008 Bus (2007-2008), C-SPAN Civics Bus (2009-2010).

C-Span Publishes Video Archive Online

kevin.coy@newsonnews.net (Kevin Coy) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:30:18 +0000

C-Span is to announce on Wednesday that it's online video archive, c-spanvideo.org, has been completed, covering some 23 years of political history from the United States Congress. The archive, which also covers the history of five presidential administrations, will be available freely to the public to seach through and include thousands of hours of coverage.

The New York Times' Brian Stelter writes;

Having free online access to the more than 160,000 hours of C-Span footage is “like being able to Google political history using the ‘I Feel Lucky’ button every time,” said Rachel Maddow, the liberal MSNBC host.

Ed Morrissey, a senior correspondent for the conservative blog Hot Air (hotair.com), said, “The geek in me wants to find an excuse to start digging.”

No other cable network is likely to give away its precious archives on the Internet. (Even “Book TV” is available.) But C-Span is one of a kind, a creation of the cable industry that records every Congressional session, every White House press briefing and other acts of official Washington.

The online archives reinforce what some would call the Web’s single best quality: its ability to recall seemingly every statement and smear. And it is even more powerful when the viewer can rewind the video.

The C-Span founder, Brian Lamb, said in an interview here last week that the archives were an extension of the network’s public service commitment.

C-SPAN 3 To Air Richard Nixon Legacy Forum: The Effective Use Of The President's Time

kevin.coy@newsonnews.net (Kevin Coy) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 07:43:02 +0000

The second in a year-long series of Richard Nixon Legacy Forums, The Effective Use of the President's Time will air on C-SPAN 3 and stream live at c-span.org on Sunday, February 21 at 1pm and 7pm ET and again on Monday, February 22 at 1am and 7am ET.

The program features four chief West Wing staff who scheduled, briefed, advanced and moved President Nixon through meetings, events and private time at the White House and around the world. Their work in creating the Executive Office of the President was groundbreaking in the creation of the modern Presidency and the management of the President's time.

•Deputy Assistant to the President, Dwight Chapin, on the management of the President's time.
•Special Assistant to the President and Assistant to the White House Chief-of-Staff, Larry Higby, on the role of Chief-of-Staff H.R. Haldeman.
•Special Assistant to the President, Steve Bull, on how the President's schedule was maintained and managed.
•Special Assistant to the President and Director of the first Office of Presidential Advance, Ron Walker, on White House Advance Operations and how they supported Presidential Policy Initiatives.

Check your local listings for airing times.

C-Span Recieves Interest in Obama's Republican Q&A Session

kevin.coy@newsonnews.net (Kevin Coy) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:16:34 +0000

C-Span has recieved a wave of interest in its televised session today between President Obama and Congressional Republicans. In response, C-Span said that a replay of the session will air in prime time this evening.

The New York Times' Brian Stelter wrote;

The non-commercial cable channel also hinted that it wanted to suggest more televised exchanges in the future.

The session in Baltimore on Friday “resembled the British custom where a prime minister responds to questions in Parliament,” Peter Baker and Carl Hulse reported.

Televised by cable news channels and C-SPAN on Friday, the question-and-answer session was a vivid display of democracy.