CSPAN or C-Panned?

C-SPAN turned 30 years old this month and I can honestly say “so what?”

It's goal is to keep the American people/citizens/voters informed about their representatives.

First, because of where I live and my income, I can't get it. Except on the Internet. It's a requirement for cable and satellite providers to carry it as a “free” channel, but not over the air stations. Should it be a part of the PBS programming? If I remember correctly, CSPAN is supposed to be a part of any basic service package and any one that purchases either cable or satellite services gets the station automatically.

I don't have cable where I live (that's affordable) and I don't watch enough TV to justify buying satellite. And the only channels I would really want to watch (Link TV, Free Speech TV, RT, TeleMundo, the BBC) are part of packages loaded with stations that I would never watch. So I don't get the wonderful station that's supposed to be helping preserve democracy from secrecy.

It is available on the Internet – but I have a 5 Gig plan and video eats up data. Fast. So there's basically no chance of me ever getting a chance to watch this station. (I guess it is stations now that I think about it. I seem to recall seeing CSPAN2 someplace. Either way, I can't watch it.) Perhaps accessing CSPAN and other similar sites should not count against data limits?

It's also not available on the radio. I don't know that anyone would listen to it though. So no real loss there.

Second, when I lived in an area that had cable (or was at a friend's house) and actually watched the station, we didn't do so for very long. For all the times that it did have something exciting on – a hearing on something important, or an interview for a Supreme Court Justice – there was more nothing.

We were watching one time and this senator or congressman was making this very impassioned speech on some issue of great importance to him or his district/state. And one of the cameras went to the chamber.

It was empty.

What was the purpose of the speech? It's probably in the Congressional Record or some place where they record those things. But the only people that heard it were the people watching on TV. Unless those people organized and went after their representatives, the speech was for nothing. Perhaps some propaganda at home. Otherwise, a waste of time, energy, and our taxes. (Republicants and other fiscal conservatives should love that line. Except they probably make their fair share of impassioned speeches to empty chambers as well… )

On top of that, it only covers those in power. No debates with third party candidates during election season or anything of that sort.

So, what is to be done?

Democracy needs defending and CSPAN was created to make the Senate and House more accessible. And yet it is completely inaccessible to a majority of Americans.

Then again, so is access to the halls and seats of power.

Perhaps this is just a way of rubbing it in.

So, Happy Birthday CSPAN.

Let me know when you become publicly available and accessible.