C-SPAN-Like TV Pops Up on Local Level

C-SPAN-LIKE TV POPS UP ON LOCAL LEVEL
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Paul Davenport]
People who can't get enough C-SPAN are getting more chances to watch legislative coverage from the comfort of their couches. At a time when news media coverage of most state legislatures is increasingly sparse, there are now more than 20 channels across the country offering gavel-to-gavel legislative coverage. That's up from a handful in the 1990s. Only about a dozen offer full broadcast slates. Others offer limited, part-time programming. The programming isn't all humdrum public policy stuff: There are corruption scandals and election controversies and juicy hearings. Those in the fledgling industry say the coverage goes beyond sound bites to let citizens see how their state governments -- and their elected representatives -- do the public's business. "What we bring to the table is a primary source for people," said Paul Giguere, president of the National Association of Public Affairs Networks and founder of Connecticut's CT-N, one of the nation's oldest systems. "This is an opportunity for people to watch for themselves and make up their own mind."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/06/05/national/a00...