I used to trust C-SPAN

[Syrinx]

I've turned my television off now, but I was just watching Brian Lamb on C-SPAN.

The open question was "Is General Petraeus fair?"

Out of a dozen or so calls, Republican line and Democratic line and indy line, it was almost unanimous that Petraeus isn't fair. That the American people don't trust him to report the truth.

And fatherly mister Lamb hung up on all those that questioned the honesty of Bush's appointed spokesman savior mouthpiece.

Has it sunk in yet that even the supposedly impartial Mr. Lamb has been bought and paid for by the corporate forces that he so openly admits fund his propaganda operation -- the cable and satellite "broadcasters" of "America?"

You can still see events on C-SPAN that you can't see anywhere else.

But as far as the "branded" programming that they run, it is just another avenue for the corporate bullshit to flow down your leg.

Please tell C-SPAN to quit shitting on me.

C-SPAN has been bought and paid for just like every corporate media outlet in this thing we still call a country.

[malaise]

1. Phone in and tell him that General Petraeus

is responsible for those 190,000 missing weapons.

[rodeodance]

3. Did that happen on his watch?

[malaise]

4. Indeed

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2841342.ece
<snip>
But the affair could be even more problematic for the White House, given that, during the two years under scrutiny, the programme was headed by General David Petraeus, now the top US commander in Iraq, in charge of the current troop "surge". President George Bush now lauds his talents on an almost daily basis, as the man who will finally give the US the upper hand against the insurgents.

[MADem]

2. Consider the source. CSPAN is funded by corporate cable companies.

Whatcha expect, really?

[Ken Burch]

5. Bryan Lamb has ALWAYS been an asshole

I've seen him, time after time, pestering nervous callers, people who'd never been on television before, to "get to the point", which only makes them more flustered, which then makes him hassle them more. Bryan is particularly nasty to women who call in and sound nervous. He's a macho jerk and he's all about silencing the discussion.

[alphafemale]

8. Speak your mind - Even if your voice shakes.

That's always been my motto.

When people unaccustomed to speaking in public are to the point where they will stand up and voice their opinions...those moments are worth hours of babble from a politician or talking head.

[KharmaTrain]

6. It's Always Been "Bought Off"

The biggest lie about C-SPAN is that it's a "non-commercial" station in the same way as your local PBS station is. Far from it. It's totally funded by the cable companies to cover their old franchise agreements with communities to provide a "public service" channel. The network has long been a right wing operation, but done subtly. It's the only network that quotes the Washington Moonie Times as a credible news source and devotes hours of coverage to "lectures" from the Heritage Institute, AEI and other right wing "think" tanks. Check out what F.A.I.R. has to say about them...they issued a report about C-SPAN bias several years ago that C-SPAN never bothered to respond to.

[annabanana]

9. Yup. . Subject to the same pressures as anyone...

Probably "allowed" off the reservation occasionally due to relative low viewership. . .

[KharmaTrain]

10. More Pressure

C-SPAN grew in the 80s as Gingrich's tool...a way to "counterbalance" the "librul" media. The money that drives C-SPAN also is behind deregulation and corporate domination of the media...a very Repugnican, right wing "cause". I rarely see this network leave the reservation...if anything, they circle the wagon. Look at the topics and guests...most are GOOP hot-topic issues and while you'll get an hour of unredacted Stephen Hayes, you rarely will get a Progressive writer given the same podium. We've also shown here how C-SPAN has been used by the GOOP to astroturf "news stories" that end up on hate radio and are churned for several hours and then appear on the evening cable food fights. Very stealthy.

[BobRossi]

7. People need to get a clue.

If it is on TV, radio, or in print, it is not the truth. Period.

[UnityDem]

11. The Best Thing about C-SPAN

is the live coverage of events with no commentary plus the live coverage of U.S.House/Senate.
Even if they are covering right winger events (e.g. Heritage Foundation), it is still nice to just watch an event without the blustering commentary of paid pundits to tell us what we just saw or how we should interpret it.
As for Wash Journal and Brian Lamb, there is a reason that many call the day that he hosts the show (usually Fridays) "fascist friday". He is an old school hawkish business conservative and most often invites guests that share his viewpoints. However, he doesn't suffer fools very well which makes his job even harder when he fields phone calls since most Repubs that call in aren't very educated or well informed....mostly your Bubba hard core religious types....I think these kind may even embarass Lamb somewhat (but hey, his party jumped into bed with them...).
That being said I am still grateful to Lamb for his role in creating and continuing C-Span. It's still better than most of the crap that passes for news on American electronic media.

[coco77]

12. I like Brian Lamb...

he seems to be fair. I thought the caller who was questioning the question didn't like the answer.