Weekly Opinion/Editorial
ELECT THOSE WE CAN TURN OUR BACKS ON!
by Steve Fair
by Steve Fair
C-SPAN first went on the air March 19, 1979, broadcasting a speech by then-Congressman Al Gore, (D-TN). C-SPAN initially provided live coverage of the U.S. House chamber proceedings, but in 1986 C-SPAN 2, a spin-off network went on the air to cover the U.S. Senate sessions live. The latest spin-off, C-SPAN 3 began broadcasting in 2001, and airs government-related live events along with historical programming from C-SPAN's archives.
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C-SPAN is owned and operated by the cable industry and doesn’t receive any taxpayer money. The stated purpose of C-SPAN was to ‘open government’ to the people. Now Americans with cable can watch what is happening in the U.S. House and Senate live. Often time elected officials can be more entertaining than TV Land. As Will Rogers said, “This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.” According to Hart Reseach, twenty percent of Americans with cable watch C-SPAN weekly. That’s over 34.5 million Americans turning in to watch their government live. People in the south and midwest watch more than the rest of America.
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Now Oklahoma citizens will be able to watch live both their legislative chambers in action. The Oklahoma state Senate has one wide-angle camera installed in its chamber that provides live streaming audio and video of Senate floor action on the Internet; two committee rooms are also wired for audio and video feeds. The State House has provided live audio the last few years, but it was announced last week that starting with the 2010 session video and audio will be available live online. Four small robotic cameras have been installed in the House chamber for a system that will allow Internet users to watch and listen to House action. Visitors to the House Web site can watch it live or view floor action that occurred earlier.
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Allowing Oklahomans to see House members in action instills confidence in their legislators, State House Speaker Chris Benge, (R-Tulsa) says. "It’s a natural thing for the public to be skeptical of elected officials, but we would like to instill confidence in the public in what we’re doing,” he said. "By opening up our process, we’re trying to take a step in that direction.”
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Because of the large budget shortfall, House Minority Leader Danny Morgan, (D-Prague) thinks the timing is wrong. "I’m not just sure that what we’re saying is that electronic information is more important than other government services,” said Morgan, D-Prague.
Benge said, "As we’re more open and we have the public being able to really pay attention and involve themselves more ... that will make for a better process.”
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Like other legislative issues, Internet coverage has its proponents and opponents. Fans argue that Internet coverage: Helps bring government closer to constituents; Offers greater flexibility in program scheduling than other broadcast venues; Allows legislature and citizens to be independent of television stations to carry the broadcast signal; and Is reasonably priced, especially when compared with television broadcasting.
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Critics contend that Internet coverage: Allows downloaded remarks to be manipulated, taken out of context or used for political purposes; Can be skewed by the leadership to provide an unfair amount of coverage for the party in control; and/or Benefits lobbyists and legislative and government employees more so than the average citizen, who may be less likely to watch the proceedings.
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The Executive Director of OETA told a State House Committee in 2008 that he could broadcast their sessions statewide(a state version of C-SPAN) for around a million dollars With the huge budget shortfall the timing is not right to broadcast legsislative sessions via OETA, but the modest $66,700 taxpayers will fork out for live audio/video internet is a bargain. Because elected officals often do what is ‘inspected,’ not what is ‘expected’ opening up the legislative process is a great idea, even if it benefits lobbyists and bureaucrats as well as citizens.
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The reality is most people don’t have time to daily monitor their legislators’- state or federal- work by TV or Internet. The average citizen has a job and a busy life. Because legislators cast hundreds of votes that we never hear about, David Barton, founder of Wallbuilders, says, “we should elect people we can turn our back on.” David, a nationally known speaker and author, will be speaking on Saturday evening at the Simmons Center in Duncan at 6pm. The public is invited and there is no admission fee.
******
C-SPAN is owned and operated by the cable industry and doesn’t receive any taxpayer money. The stated purpose of C-SPAN was to ‘open government’ to the people. Now Americans with cable can watch what is happening in the U.S. House and Senate live. Often time elected officials can be more entertaining than TV Land. As Will Rogers said, “This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.” According to Hart Reseach, twenty percent of Americans with cable watch C-SPAN weekly. That’s over 34.5 million Americans turning in to watch their government live. People in the south and midwest watch more than the rest of America.
******
Now Oklahoma citizens will be able to watch live both their legislative chambers in action. The Oklahoma state Senate has one wide-angle camera installed in its chamber that provides live streaming audio and video of Senate floor action on the Internet; two committee rooms are also wired for audio and video feeds. The State House has provided live audio the last few years, but it was announced last week that starting with the 2010 session video and audio will be available live online. Four small robotic cameras have been installed in the House chamber for a system that will allow Internet users to watch and listen to House action. Visitors to the House Web site can watch it live or view floor action that occurred earlier.
*****
Allowing Oklahomans to see House members in action instills confidence in their legislators, State House Speaker Chris Benge, (R-Tulsa) says. "It’s a natural thing for the public to be skeptical of elected officials, but we would like to instill confidence in the public in what we’re doing,” he said. "By opening up our process, we’re trying to take a step in that direction.”
*****
Because of the large budget shortfall, House Minority Leader Danny Morgan, (D-Prague) thinks the timing is wrong. "I’m not just sure that what we’re saying is that electronic information is more important than other government services,” said Morgan, D-Prague.
Benge said, "As we’re more open and we have the public being able to really pay attention and involve themselves more ... that will make for a better process.”
*****
Like other legislative issues, Internet coverage has its proponents and opponents. Fans argue that Internet coverage: Helps bring government closer to constituents; Offers greater flexibility in program scheduling than other broadcast venues; Allows legislature and citizens to be independent of television stations to carry the broadcast signal; and Is reasonably priced, especially when compared with television broadcasting.
*****
Critics contend that Internet coverage: Allows downloaded remarks to be manipulated, taken out of context or used for political purposes; Can be skewed by the leadership to provide an unfair amount of coverage for the party in control; and/or Benefits lobbyists and legislative and government employees more so than the average citizen, who may be less likely to watch the proceedings.
*****
The Executive Director of OETA told a State House Committee in 2008 that he could broadcast their sessions statewide(a state version of C-SPAN) for around a million dollars With the huge budget shortfall the timing is not right to broadcast legsislative sessions via OETA, but the modest $66,700 taxpayers will fork out for live audio/video internet is a bargain. Because elected officals often do what is ‘inspected,’ not what is ‘expected’ opening up the legislative process is a great idea, even if it benefits lobbyists and bureaucrats as well as citizens.
*****
The reality is most people don’t have time to daily monitor their legislators’- state or federal- work by TV or Internet. The average citizen has a job and a busy life. Because legislators cast hundreds of votes that we never hear about, David Barton, founder of Wallbuilders, says, “we should elect people we can turn our back on.” David, a nationally known speaker and author, will be speaking on Saturday evening at the Simmons Center in Duncan at 6pm. The public is invited and there is no admission fee.
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