The Wisconsin Department of Administration cleared the installation of broadcast infrastructure for C-SPAN-style coverage of state governmental activity in the Capitol Thursday.
According to licensing agreements reached with the state Legislature in July 2005, WisconsinEye — the not-for-profit company behind the project — will begin broadcasting legislative hearings on television within six months.
Chris Long, a part-time Ph.D. student in the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism and Mass Communication, heads the project. After five years working with C-SPAN, Long jumped at the opportunity to head a program of his own in Wisconsin.
C-SPAN, or Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable TV network dedicated to airing non-stop coverage of government proceedings and public affairs programming.
According to Long, the Wisconsin Legislature has been interested in televising its proceedings for some time. Since its founding in 1999, Long said, WisconsinEye has fundraised in order to "not rely on state subsidies." The $650,000 construction project in the Capitol, he added, will not cost taxpayers a dime.
Long said most of the work will be circuitry work inside the walls.
"The only visible changes in the chambers will be the addition of … removable cameras," Long said. "Four in the Assembly, five in the Senate, and tripod cameras in the hearing rooms."
Long said WisconsinEye hopes to begin broadcasting in May 2007, though a specific channel has not been locked in yet with the various cable distributors around the state. He added that live video streaming would eventually also be available online.
State Sen. Alan Lasee, R-De Pere, a 32-year veteran in the state Senate, said the addition of the cameras is both "good and evil."
"The good news is the public will be able to observe what goes on on the Senate floor," Lasee said. The bad news, he added, is that legislators who want to "play to the camera" will make sessions last longer.
Lasee said he fears most the destruction of the decorum in the Senate, with legislators "playing games" by "prolonging and procrastinating the vote."
But Lasee also confessed to being "a little apprehensive," expressing a hope that "it will all work out."
UW journalism professor Dhavan Shah, who specializes in political participation, said the project has the potential to be useful but won't have a wide appeal to the average citizen. However, there might be an audience for specific topics, he added.
"Most people aren't going to go and watch it, but for a certain substrata, for the people who watch C-SPAN … I think it's a good thing," Shah said.
The reason for the push for this type of project, Shah said, is twofold. The advancement of technology has made installing such a system far cheaper than even a decade ago. He added the other reason is "increasing calls for openness on the part of the government." In a project such as this, "both things converge."
Shah noted that while such a system may not make politicians more honest, it might "make them more accountable" by creating a record that otherwise might not have existed.
