There is looming trouble in C-SPAN land

For the uneducated, the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, better known as C-SPAN is one of the last literate islands of mostly unadulterated quality, scholarly programing left for the common and casual viewer to both view and participate in on television.

Although it is geared toward the political realm of public service television, C-SPAN often lets us enter into the gilded halls of Federal power in a totally unfiltered way. C-SPAN airs gavel to gavel coverage of both the house and the senate. It offers a sophisticated look at judicial policy and arguments from the Supreme Court and gets us vicariously as close as possible to the executive branch.

One of the other superior aspects C-SPAN has endeavored to do, and up into this point I thought excellently, was to hold the panel discussions and forums on various topics that are national in scope.

This is where we seem to have run into a bit of trouble.

“Book TV,” is one of the many national issues driven programs on C-SPAN. “Book TV,” as one might surmise, deals with national issues from the literary perspective.

It was on an October 6^th panel discussion on “Book TV,” dealing with  Jonah Goldberg’s new book, “Proud to be Right,” where young writers were hashing out the future direction of the G.O.P., that C-SPAN showed us that the corrosive wave of celebrity-idolatry  is now crashing up against the castle walls.

During the discussion panelists, authors and apparently ex-lovers Todd Seavey and Helen Rittelmeyer, had a post romantic spat of sorts. Well, it was more of   Seavey teeing off on Rittelmeyer, and she trying to keep her cool through the tempest.

But the more important and much more damaging part was to come later, in her post fight discussion with the ambulance chasing media, this time in the form of Mary Katharine Ham , of the conservative news site, “The Daily Caller.”

In her explanation to Ham, of what went wrong in Seavey’s head, this part of Rittelmeyer’s  email stood out, “I wish I could say it was all a plan hatched by our new-media consultant, who told us we had to “think outside the box” to make our C-Span panel “go viral,”

That little toss-in repulsed me.

To its credit C-SPAN aired the whole event with no edits and also carries the video archives similarly with no editing, but clearly, somebody’s hand should be slapped.

Does anyone else recognize the trouble at hand ???

It should now be obvious to you, me and the kids down the street, that statement by her “consulllltant,”  was tantamount to saying “go out there and gin up some excitement, do something that isn’t an educational foray into intellectualism, get foolish enough for the  boobs who watch YouTube to want to see this.”

I’m dismayed that C-SPAN didn’t see this coming, especially in cases where they have young people on their panel discussions. If they know about this tactic they should put a stop to it.

Youth may be no more steeped in celebrity fascination than any previous generation, but they seem to both accept is as part of life and also as a genuine means to “get their name out there.”

I’m also very, very disappointed in Helen Rittelmeyer, Todd Seavey, Jonah Goldberg their consultants, their publishing houses and any other entity that would debase this small oasis that is C-SPAN in order to get “cool points” or “street cred. ”

There are far too many shout-fest outlets out there where the decibel level counts more than the level of thought.

Go there and get crazy. I’m sure at any one of those outlets you can go as “viral” as you want, do that, just leave C-SPAN and its viewers alone.

I would have hoped that Rittelmeyer’s reply to her consultant would’ve been something like, “this audience does not need nor expects a sorry spectacle or some sort of prurience in order to stay focused on the subject at hand.” But alas she didn’t.

She says that Seavey’s meltdown was not part of this plan to get them “viral,” but its awful that there was even A PLAN !!!

C’mon C-SPAN, as you grow more popular with the masses you’re going to need to guard against the possibility that some guests or their handlers will be looking for something more than just sharing their intellectual expertise.

It’s certainly sad to see, especially with young intellectuals, that some of them will try and use C-SPAN more as a launching point or stepping stone in their quest for fame rather than a reservoir of good television and a repository of intellectual public debate.

Cheers!

I’m out