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Albany TV
Many people use New Year’s Day as an opportunity to wipe the slate clean, to reinvent themselves with pledges to improve. New Year’s Day is also the start of new state programs, some which include important reforms. Among the reforms agreements of the 2005 session was a pledge to establish a New York State “C-SPAN,” designed to broadcast coverage of state governmental proceedings. The state “C-SPAN” is supposed to be on the air starting this month, but there are many questions. What will be broadcast? Just the unedited governmental proceedings, or will it be more than that? Will the minority parties get the same amount of airtime as the majority parties? What about outside groups – will their activities get coverage in the same way as the federal C-SPAN allows? Who will make the call on what is covered and what is not? And will the Governor – who has ignored the issue – allow coverage of the executive branch’s proceedings, such as utility rate hearings? Unlike many issues in Albany, the public will know quickly the answers to those questions. Whether this “C-SPAN” is useful hinges on the right responses. Unedited gavel-to-gavel coverage of proceedings without useful commentary will leave viewers bewildered and frustrated. If that’s the case, viewers will tune out and the benefits of coverage will be limited at best. While it’s understandable why lawmakers have been nervous about the impact of real-time televised coverage of government’s activities, it’s long past time for action. Twenty-one states already allow their citizens some version of televised coverage, as well as the federal government. Many states have had a “C-SPAN” system in place for years and so New York should be able to learn from those experiences. But the time for analysis is long past; the time for action is now. Obviously, New York State should use model its effort on the most successful program, the C-SPAN that covers Congress and the federal government. The federal C-SPAN has had an incredible impact. According to a recent study:
A robust cable TV channel that combines independent, non-partisan, gavel-to-gavel coverage, coupled with enhanced programming such as “Roundtables” and coverage of events sponsored by non-governmental organizations, would help educate New Yorkers on state government and engage them in the important policy debates of the state. A state “C-Span” would also provide a valuable too for teachers at the junior high, high school and college level to bring contemporaneous policymaking into the classroom. Clearly, the path blazed by the federal C-SPAN should be the path followed by New York. New York’s “C-SPAN” should not be limited to merely the actual coverage of legislative and executive actions, but “add value” such as coverage of conferences on state issues, offer issue roundtables and other programs generally found on the national C-SPAN. An independent, lively and informative format will attract viewers and educate them on the issues facing the state. What kind of “C-SPAN” will New Yorkers see? Stay tuned. That’s all for now. I’ll be keeping an eye on the Capitol and will talk to you again next week. |
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