Analysis of C-SPAN's Congressional Committee Coverage

[Billy Hallowell]

My name is Billy Hallowell and I am the new director of content at
VoterWatch (www.voterwatch.org). I am extremely excited to be a part
of the team here. Exciting things are happening here at VoterWatch,
as we work toward the launch of a pilot program that will assist us in
further promoting government transparency and citizen engagement!

In preparation for VoterWatch's upcoming program, we've spent some
time analyzing C-SPAN's coverage of Congressional hearings. Since our
primary interest is in creating a video record of what occurs in House
and Senate meetings, access to footage is paramount. Unfortunately
(and as many of you know), our government doesn't offer adequate
access to video, audio, and transcripts, as the quality and
availability of these items greatly differ among committees.

Since C-SPAN is the main hub for Congressional footage, we decided to
examine one week of network coverage to see exactly what the C-SPAN
channels are covering--and what they're not. While we are not
attempting to fault C-SPAN for missing hearings (after all, covering
all of the committees is an arduous and expensive task), we think it's
important to understand what we're not seeing.

We'll be expanding on this examination next week, as we explore a
second week of coverage. For now, please read on for an analysis of
the week of February 4-10, 2008! For a more dynamic version of the
following analysis, please visit our blog at: http://voterwatch.org/blog.

Analysis

Overall, C-SPAN covered 28% of all committee hearings held during the
week of February 4-10, 2008. This does not include the four closed
hearings that occurred. The four closed committee hearings were:

- One Hearing, Wednesday, February 6, 2008, Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence (Iran meeting)

- One Hearing, Wednesday, February 6, 2008, House Committee on
Appropriations (Defense Subcommittee meeting)

- Two Hearings, Thursday, February 7, 2008, House Committee on
Appropriations (both Defense Subcommittee meetings)

Any events that were repeated are counted only one time (on the day
that they occurred during the week of analysis) and any event that was
aired from a previous date is not included. Programming (hearings
only) from all three networks--C-SPAN, C-SPAN2 and C-SPAN3--is
included.

Here is the analysis, complete with daily proportions of coverage:


Monday, February 4, 2008
(No proportion of coverage to report; C-SPAN aired two committee
meetings from January 29, 2008)

There were no Congressional meetings on Monday, February 4, 2008


Tuesday, February 5, 2008
75% of House/Senate Committee Meetings Covered

C-SPAN COVERED THE FOLLOWING CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS:
- Senate Finance Committee, Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Proposal (2/5; C-
SPAN; Also aired on C-SPAN 2)
- Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, National Security
Assessment (2/5; C-SPAN; Also aired on C-SPAN 2 and 3)
- Senate Budget Committee, Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Proposal (2/5; C-
SPAN; Also aired on C-SPAN 2)

C-SPAN DID NOT COVER THE FOLLOWING CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS:
- Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Review of Veterans'
Disability Compensation: Rehabilitating Veterans


Wednesday, February 6, 2008
38% of House/Senate Committee Hearings Covered

C-SPAN COVERED THE FOLLOWING CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS:
- Senate Committee on Armed Services, Fiscal Year 2009 Defense Budget
Proposal (2/6; C-SPAN; Aired twice)
- House Armed Services Committee, Fiscal Year 2009 Defense Budget
Proposal (2/6; C-SPAN and C-SPAN 3)
- Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Funding the
Highway Trust Fund (2/6; C-SPAN 2)
- Senate Finance Committee, Fiscal Year 2009 HHS Budget Proposal (2/6;
C-SPAN 2 and 3)
- House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Situation in Kenya (2/6; C-SPAN
2)

C-SPAN DID NOT COVER THE FOLLOWING CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS:
- Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Department of
Energy's budget for fiscal year 2009
- Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, Full Committee
Business Meeting
- Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, Perspectives
on the Surface Transportation Commission Report
- Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Briefing on Sudan
- Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Nominations
- House Natural Resources Committee, Legislative Hearing on H.R. 2176
and H.R. 4115
- House Committee on Rules, Legislative Hearing on H.R. 4137 and
H.Res. 955
- House Armed Services Committee, Testimony on Fiscal Year 2009
National Defense Budget Request from the Department of Defense


Thursday, February 7, 2008
12% of House/Senate Committee Hearings Covered

C-SPAN COVERED THE FOLLOWING CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS:
- House Judiciary Committee, Justice Department Oversight (2/7; C-
SPAN; Aired twice)
- House Select Intelligence Committee, National Security Assessment
(2/7; C-SPAN and C-SPAN 3)
- House Committee on Veterans Affairs, Fiscal Year 2009 Veterans
Affairs Budget Proposal (2/7; C-SPAN 2)

C-SPAN DID NOT COVER THE FOLLOWING CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS:
- House Committee on Appropriations, Quality of Life
- House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Interior Budget
- House Committee on Appropriations, Capitol Visitor Center Oversight
- House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Transportation
Budget
- House Armed Services Committee, Testimony on Beneficiary Advocacy
Overview
- House Committee on the Budget, The President's Fiscal Year 2009
Budget
- House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Department of Energy's
Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Proposal
- House Financial Services Committee, Diversity in the Financial
Services Sector
- House Financial Services Committee, Holocaust Insurance
Accountability Act of 2007
- House Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. Obligations Under the
Merida Initiative
- House Committee on Homeland Security, Other Transaction Authority:
Flexibility at the Expense of Accountability?
- House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Agency Budgets
and Priorities for FY 2009
- House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, The President's
FY09 Federal Aviation Administration Budget
- House Committee on Ways and Means, Hearing on the President's Fiscal
Year 2009 Budget
- Senate Committee on the Armed Services, Testimony on Business
Transformation and Financial Management at the Department of Defense
- Senate Committee on the Armed Services, Testimony on the final
report of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves
- Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Reforming
the Regulation of the Government Sponsored Enterprises
- Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, Nominations
Hearing
- Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Hearing to Receive
Testimony on the Energy Market Effects of the Recently-Passed
Renewable Fuel Standard
- Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Nominations
- Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, The Immediate and Underlying
Causes and Consequences of Kenya's Flawed Election
- Senate Committee on the Judiciary, The Founding Fathers' Papers:
Ensuring Public Access to our National Treasures
- Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Hearing on the Nomination of
Robert G. McSwain, to Be Director of the Indian Health Service


Friday, February 8, 2008
50% of House/Senate Committee Hearings Covered

C-SPAN COVERED THE FOLLOWING CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS:
- House Committee on Administration, Contested Florida Election (2/8;
C-SPAN; Aired twice)
- House Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. Policy Toward Iraq (2/8; C-
SPAN; Aired twice)

C-SPAN DID NOT COVER THE FOLLOWING CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS:
- House Financial Services Committee, Negative Implications of the
President's Signing Statement on the Sudan Accountability and
Divestment Act
- House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Government
Accountability Office's Review of the Federal Protective Service:
Preliminary Findings

[Greg Elin]

Fascinating analysis! Please do a few more weeks. This would be great to have documented!

--
Greg Elin
Chief Data Architect
Sunlight Foundation (http://sunlightfoundation.com)
Sunlight Labs (http://sunlightlabs.com)
ge...@sunlightfoundation.com

--
Greg Elin
Chief Data Architect
Sunlight Foundation (http://sunlightfoundation.com)
Sunlight Labs (http://sunlightlabs.com)
ge...@sunlightfoundation.com
cell: 917-304-3488