On February 8th, Doug Hemming and Jenae Green from C-Span addressed the Rotary Club of Nashua regarding the history and role of C-Span in news media today. Doug and Jenae Green provided an update on C-Span unfiltered.
Doug grew up in DC and went to Purdue University. Doug enjoys the Presidential campaign coming thru NH every 4 years. He finds NH voters are passionate about their first-in-the-nation primary. While on the Primary tour, he of course looks forward to his visits to the Arrow Diner in Manchester. He is also a fellow Rotarian, belonging to a club in Rocksville, MD.
In 1979, C-Span started producing the unfiltered content of Congress and beyond. For 42 years, they have continued to provide content and let the viewer decide the importance of the issue and what is happening and what it means. He wants people to be better informed in their participation in democracy.
C-Span receives no government funding. It provides an unfiltered view of government. This year has been one of the most consequential with a pandemic, struggling economy and new leadership transition in government after the election. What does C-Span mean for the viewer? It puts you in the room, to see the whole event and to make up your own mind on the issues.
The presentation is deliberately different from other media presentations. They are non-profit and get funds from the cable companies. It is not driven by ratings. C-Span’s mission is provide long-form programming/no editing; provides balanced coverage with multiple viewpoints; no commentary; it provides direct access to leaders and it is encouraging of viewer participation (call-in).
Unparalleled coverage of the House and Senate with open phone lines to get comment. The impeachment and committee hearings are also covered as well as leadership briefings. Of course, it includes presentations by the president and cabinet. It provides audio of Supreme Court proceedings. Quite often it may cover state officials or other national/international presentations. They often provide context thru call-in programs after with content specialists/experts and or historical presentations.
C-span tries to maintain a factual, neutral position and stay a trusted new provider. There are 3 channels – C-Span 1, 2 and 3. It is also online at c-span.org. There is also a site on all the congressional members with unique pages for each member and all the congressional committees. It is called Congressional Chronicles. Also there is a page for Corona-19 Virus status and facts. Teachers often use the C-Span Classroom to assist in creating education plans.
C-Span also has a radio presence. They have a presence on Twitter, Instagram and You-Tube. They have online newsletters to make a quick written summary of the news easily available at your fingertips. The excellent presentation was enjoyed by all.
A healthy Q&A followed with write-in questions provided by members.
Doug Hemming asked that all attending complete the survey via this link:https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CSPANpresentation1020. (also included below).
After the meeting he sent this email to Nashua Rotary leadership and requested it be sent to all members:
Thanks so much for having us today. Jenae and I enjoyed meeting all of you, even if it was in a virtual world. It was a lot of fun. What a great Rotary Club. In fact, we hope to join you in person next time when the pandemic settles down. Next time we will bring our C-SPAN Bus, which is our mobile production truck and mobile classroom. I wanted to get you the email I promised you. Please share this with your members. Also, if you know of other clubs or community organizations that might be interested in hearing this presentation, please have them contact me!
We are still new to this format and I want to make sure it was valuable information for your club. Since this is new to us we would love any feedback that you all have. If you could send this survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CSPANpresentation1020) around to everyone who attended today, that would be appreciated.
Finally, As a small token of our appreciation, we’d like to send you and your members a FREE copy of our awarding-winning book, The Senate: An Enduring Foundation of Democracy. This visually rich book showcases the architectural details and 200-year evolution of the Senate’s ornate hallways, private work spaces and historic meeting rooms. There’s no strings attached – this isn’t spam – we don’t sell your information. It’s just our way of saying THANKS for your support!
If you’re interested, please share this email with your members and complete the online form found here: C-SPAN Senate Book – Quantities are limited so hurry!
Stay well and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions.
Best,
Doug Hemmig
C-SPAN Networks