I am really amazed to see that their operation is only $1 million per year. I wonder what will be drug up in the coming campaign season now that producers have easier access to the information? This seems like it continues the "democratization of production" by now having an easier way to get the info (not having to have a researcher go to C-SPAN to get the video).
C-Span Puts Full Archives on the Web Sign in to Recommend
By BRIAN STELTER
Published: March 15, 2010
WASHINGTON — Researchers, political satirists and partisan mudslingers, take note: C-Span has uploaded virtually every minute of its video archives to the Internet.
The archives, at C-SpanVideo.org, cover 23 years of history and five presidential administrations and are sure to provide new fodder for pundits and politicians alike. The network will formally announce the completion of the C-Span Video Library on Wednesday.
Having free online access to the more than 160,000 hours of C-Span footage is “like being able to Google political history using the ‘I Feel Lucky’ button every time,” said Rachel Maddow, the liberal MSNBC host.
Ed Morrissey, a senior correspondent for the conservative blog Hot Air (hotair.com), said, “The geek in me wants to find an excuse to start digging.”
No other cable network is likely to give away its precious archives on the Internet. (Even “Book TV” is available.) But C-Span is one of a kind, a creation of the cable industry that records every Congressional session, every White House press briefing and other acts of official Washington.
The online archives reinforce what some would call the Web’s single best quality: its ability to recall seemingly every statement and smear. And it is even more powerful when the viewer can rewind the video.
The C-Span founder, Brian Lamb, said in an interview here last week that the archives were an extension of the network’s public service commitment.
“That’s where the history will be,” Mr. Lamb said.
C-Span has been uploading its history for several years, working its way to 1987, when its archives were established at Purdue University, Mr. Lamb’s alma mater.
The archive staff now operates from an office park in West Lafayette, Ind., where two machines that can turn 16 hours of tapes into digital files each hour have been working around the clock to move C-Span’s programs online. They are now finishing the 1987 catalog.
“This is the archive’s coming of age, in a way, because it’s now so accessible,” said Robert Browning, director of the archives.
Historically, the $1 million-a-year operation has paid for itself partly by selling videotapes and DVDs to journalists, campaign strategists and others. Continue reading
1 comment:
I looked into c-spanvidoe.org after reading this article and it does seem to be like what Ed Morrissey is portraying about the industry is indeed true to be somewhat a "geeks" world. To me, this is just what people need is having the opportunity to see more and being able to explore the information in much greater detail. As this article also states that no other web site has done this, which i think is another advantage because this will catch poeples attention and I think make more viewers loyal since it is a special type of web relaease. I do think the only negative to this web access is that the cable side of the network will loose many viewers but the business itself will level out in its revenues due to the new type of advertising from being virtually accessed. I do not really know if I would think this was a good idea for this company in particular but like the Long Tail tries to implicate becoming more virtual and technologically recognized and advanced, I think C-span is trying to take that leap due to all the kinds of coverage C-span holds this will give more opportunities for people to look use C-span as well. I think this was a really good example article because its subject matter is really in compliance to our class.
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