It’s probably no accident that C-SPAN, the network devoted solely to government proceedings and public affairs programming, put 160,000 hours of searchable video programs online last week during Sunshine Week, the yearly observance that promotes government transparency. The Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, has played a major role in providing an unflinching — and unblinking — view of government at work since its inception in 1979. Opening its valuable video archive to the world via the Internet at no cost continues that often unsung mission.
The archive Web site contains more than 160,000 hours of cable footage dating to 1987. There’s more coming. Another 10,000 or so hours of pre-1987 footage will go online once it can be formatted for the Web. It won’t be long before almost everything C-SPAN has recorded will be available to historians, researchers, politicians and even the mildly curious. The benefit, both now and when the entire project is completed, is enormous.
C-SPAN began as a single channel, but has expanded to three. C-SPAN broadcasts all House of Representatives sessions; C-SPAN2 airs all Senate sessions; and C-SPAN3 airs committee hearings, briefings, conferences and just about every other act of official Washington. It’s all done seamlessly through an arrangement that is, uniquely, independent of the government but that has the cooperation of its three branches. The result is at times mesmerizing, at times infuriating and almost always pleasing.
That’s borne out by polls. A recent survey indicated that more than half of voters said they watched the network at least once in a while. The availability of the video archive its ease of use should expand that already high interest.
A search feature allows users to find individuals and topics within the archive. A name search for Zach Wamp, Tennessee’s 3rd District congressman, for instance, quickly turns up a profile page as well as 245 additional references. Similar information is available on every current member of Congress and many other officeholders and appointees. Ditto for those who’ve held similar posts during C-SPAN’s existence.
That’s not all. A “memorable moments” compilation offers everything from Clarence Thomas appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee to Dana Carvey at a White House Christmas Party. Very little, it seems, escapes C-SPAN, a circumstance that, happily, forces many officials to own up to awkward words uttered years ago.
C-SPAN’s cameras have been recording the work of government for a long time. Making the network’s archives available with no filters or commentary at no charge is an incomparable gift that underscores the network’s commitment to public service, that is crucial to open government and that provides entree to the very basic documents of history.