C-SPAN tunes in to reality

By Rachel Kaufman

Published April 15, 2008

Amid all the crap that’s selected for viewing on television, there shines a bright beacon of hope in basic-cable paradise. It’s not Rock of Love 2 or Flavor of Love 3 or some “love-me-I-was-a-celebrity-24-years-ago” show. It’s probably something that you pass over when scrolling through the guide feature. It doesn’t have blood or guts, sex or drugs. It doesn’t have famous actors or hidden footage of socialites getting wasted. It’s better than that.

Imagine the raw, uncut footage two grown adults arguing about foreign policy or universal health care. Or think about a tenured Georgetown professor lecturing about the perils of global warming and its effect on the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. Does this sound as intriguing to you as it does to me? Good. Because in my mind, there is nothing better than curling up for a long night of C-SPAN.

As media consumers, we get most of our political news from CNN, FOX, MSNBC or some network news anchor who spends more time on makeup than learning the information they present. No matter how “fair and balanced” the news report is, something is always skewed.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said this. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., said that. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., responded this way. This is what we think you should think about it.

The media polarizes information and spoon-feeds it to us. C-SPAN gives you food and forces you to cook it yourself.

When I worked in Washington, D.C., C-SPAN was on every newsroom television 24 hours a day. You were able to hear policy debates, listen to hearings and learn background information about the very topics we spend so much time arguing about.

Living in a college environment, we see nothing short of protests and pamphlets about social change and what we should do about problems A, B and C. That’s all fine and good, but how many college students try to get unfiltered political information before they go about making their so-called educated decisions? I don’t have any statistics, because as a journalism major, I like to stay away from numbers as much as possible.

What I do know is that I never sit down with a group of friends that insists on changing the channel from reality shows to reality. It just doesn’t happen, but maybe it should. Everyone has something to complain about, all the time. And everyone can benefit from being a little more educated. Learning something new everyday is an ambitious goal, but wouldn’t it be better if it were useful information ... for free?

Another perk of C-SPAN is the cost, or lack thereof. I have no problem admitting that prior to entering college, I watched university lectures on C-SPAN. When you’re paying roughly $3,000 per course and the push of a button can get you information for free, it’s hard to pass up.

There are two things college kids love: free things and feeling self-important. C-SPAN’s not paying me to say this, but both of these luxuries can be found on channel 65 (Mediacom). Next time you wake up and have to choose between watching “Blank Check” or “She’s All That,” grab the remote and learn a little more about the stuff that actually affects your life.