C-SPAN: As Fair And Balanced As Fox News?

[babylonsister]

http://www.newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p=554

C-SPAN: As Fair And Balanced As Fox News?


According to C-SPAN’s website, the network is…

“…a private, non-profit company, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a public service. Our mission is to provide public access to the political process. C-SPAN receives no government funding; operations are funded by fees paid by cable and satellite affiliates who carry C-SPAN programming.”

That sounds like a pretty even-handed organization that is well suited to serve the public interest. But a little digging beneath the surface tells a different story. For instance, the cable and satellite affiliates that fund the network’s operations are predominately assets of the largest media and Telco corporations in the world. Companies like AT&T and Time Warner. It would be naive to presume that they have no agenda to promote.

In 2005, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) conducted a study that showed the network…

“…skewing rightward, favoring Republican and right-of-center interview subjects by considerable margins over Democratic and left-of-center guests. The study also found that women, people of color and public interest viewpoints were substantially underrepresented.”

snip//

Another recent example of bias is the interview with Kevin Leffler, director of the two year old crockumentary “‘Shooting Michael Moore.” For some reason C-SPAN felt compelled to give a platform to this undistinguished and outdated film but has not bothered to host the filmmakers responsible for the just-released “No End in Sight.”

Feel free to let C-SPAN’s Viewer Services know that you would like for them to schedule progressive events and guest bookings with at least the same frequency as they do for conservative programs. Or is that too much to ask the stepchild of Time Warner and AT&T?

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[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. and sadly, it's also the least biased channel. nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. It's the only one that shows events live and unedited

including peace marches and meetings of leftist groups that take place in Washington.

Its coverage of Bush's second coronation was the only one that really revealed the protesters and the creepy announcements that proceeded Bush's motorcade. ("The presidential motorcade is approaching. Please greet President and Mrs. Bush. God bless President Bush. God bless America.") It also showed the no-class Bush twins sitting in the reviewing stand combing their hair and drinking form plastic blottles.

Ewghgh on all counts.

[globalvillage]

2. What's the connection between C-SPAN

and AT&T?

[napi21]

3. I think cspan is pretty fair. I know they've had more Pub guests on

in the last 6+ years, but don't you think that's understandable becasue the Pubs controlled the WH and Congress? They were the lawmakers and would be the ones in the news!

I can tell you, it's the ONLY place I've had the opportunity to watch many of the speeches, hearings, book tours, and reps from the few Liberal or at least middle think tanks.

It's very easy for us to feel a network is RW biased because we don't want to hear any of the RW blab, but cspan does a pretty good job at airing a wide variety of opinions.

[Cha]

5. I stopped watching cspin years

ago..I never thought they didn't have an agenda expcept maybe the first few naive days.

Hope someday there's a real NO SPIN ZONE.

The repukes would go under from the undulating truth.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. there are NO no-spin zones...

unfortunately, cspan is the best we have (aside from DN! and the internets, of course.)

[Cha]

7. I know there aren't ..that's

why I'm hoping! Didn't see an icon for "hope" or I would insert one right here!

I know cspan does have good stuff..I just don't it watch it anymore.