C-SPAN

Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network

C-SPAN logo
Type	cable television network
Branding	C-SPAN
Country	United States
Availability	United States, online (via c-span.org)
Owner	National Cable Satellite Corporation
Launch date	March 19, 1979
Official website	c-span.org

C-SPAN (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.

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 coverage.

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. 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.

Coverage

In addition to live coverage of House and Senate proceedings, 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. Also, after the death of Ronald Reagan in 2004 and the death of Rosa Parks in 2005, C-SPAN featured live, uninterrupted coverage of the visitors who came to the Capitol Rotunda to pay their final respects.

C-SPAN and the Internet

All of C-SPAN's live feeds are streamed free of charge on its World Wide Web site. The format available on C-SPAN is Real Media which is streamed from C-SPAN's servers and cannot be copied locally for reuse. Additionally, selected C-SPAN programs are archived for the general public on its website, for at least two weeks. After that period C-SPAN has exclusive rights to the video and charges anywhere from $30 to upwards of $1000 dollars [1] for access to these House and Senate proceedings. Some programs remain permanently accessible through their website in the Real Media format.

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.

Following

In its early days, cable companies tried to replace C-SPAN with channels that produced more revenue. 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. Over time, the cable companies and the general public realized that C-SPAN provided a desired and much needed public service (a "window" into part of the federal government), and attempts to replace C-SPAN with other channels have ceased. C-SPAN does not have the ratings of the major networks, but it has a devoted following. Avid C-SPAN viewers often refer to themselves as "C-SPAN Junkies," "SPANners," or "Spanheads."

C-SPAN and Intellectual Property

C-SPAN maintains an intellectual property enforcement policy and "zealously and actively monitors and protects its intellectual property" [2]. For example, in another section of the C-SPAN site they state that all "C-SPAN video is not in the public domain" [3]. In what would initially appear to be a contradiction, C-SPAN's teachers resources page states that that the House and Senate footage is available in the public domain [4]. However, even though the House and Senate footage itself is in the public domain, the House and Senate coverage shown on the C-SPAN networks is not according to C-SPAN. By applying C-SPAN logos and graphics to the proceedings of Congress, C-SPAN makes a claim of copyright to these audio/video documents. Unlike the modern interpretations and performances of Bach and Tolstoy which constitute expression and are therefore copyrightable, C-SPAN copyright’s are applied to documents of public record made available by the government.

It has not been tested in court whether C-SPANS graphics and the factual information such as who is on screen constitute a form of expression. The use of C-SPAN’s trade mark is different from copyright and is afforded different forms of protection.

C-SPAN has engaged in numerous actions to stop parties from making unauthorized uses of their content, even in cases where the footage is the House and Senate proceedings. 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. Some senators believe C-SPAN's coverage to be in the public domain. [5]

Websites that have copied unauthorized C-SPAN clips of government proceedings have received requests to take down the content. For example, Dem Bloggers received a take down request for some clips they had posted. [6] Additionally in February of 2006, WRPI's Dennis Karius was fired for airing audio from C-SPAN's web stream on his radio program. [7]

In May 2006, C-SPAN requested the removal of the Stephen Colbert White House Correspondent's Dinner performance from Youtube.com video hosting site while allowing it to remain on Google Video. The removal caused a bit controversy [8] in the blogosphere, including a mention on the Boing Boing weblog.

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 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".

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.

Past chairmen

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

Shows

• After Words
• America and the Courts
• Booknotes
• Road to the White House
• Q&A
• Washington Journal

See also

• ABC NewsRadio (Australian)
• BBC Parliament (British)
• CPAC (Canadian)
• The Knesset Channel (Israel) [9]

External links

• Official Site
• C-SPAN Classroom Educator Resources
• Booknotes
• "Parliament, Coverage by Television," The Museum of Broadcast Communications
• BookTV
• The C-SPAN Community C-SPAN's Community is Temporarily Closing, 2004
• C-SPAN Q&A: Jimmy Wales, what is Wikipedia, Wikipedia Founder
• Washington Post column by Richard Cohen – Criticism of a C-SPAN decision to only air a speech by Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt if the network also aired a speech by Holocaust-denier David Irving.
• Failing at Its "No. 1 Goal" study by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) alleging lack of balance on Washington Journal, C-SPAN's morning viewer call-in program.
• Booknotes' Slanted Shelf study by FAIR alleging lack of balance on Booknotes, C-SPAN's book review program.
• C-Span sucks community, an alternative community forum that was formed after Brian Lamb decided to eliminate the community forum on C-Span.org.