Relay: Thank You For C-Span
My wife and I had been tuning into C-Span since we first were connected to cable. “Thank you for C-Span” was a standard opening for callers talking live on the network’s broad array of shows.
The network, founded by Brian Lamb as a not-for-profit in 1979, was dedicated originally to airing every second of every session of the House of Representatives. There was always time to kill between sessions, and an eclectic, fascinating, and varied string of guests would appear in segments frequently moderated by Mr. Lamb. The guests spanned the political spectrum, all the way out to the fringes in each direction.
So, too, did the callers. “Thank you for C-Span,” many would say, before launching into sometimes bizarre critiques of the federal government or one or both major political parties.
I remember during the 1992 presidential election, a group of political journalists were fielding calls from uncommitted voters. They were analyzing people’s fears about the election. One woman caller said, “I’m afraid.” A panelist tried to draw her out, but came to the simple conclusion, after a few moments, that “this woman is afraid.”
The network gave, and gives to this day, a voice to those who may not have been ready for prime time, but had a point of view nonetheless.
In the late 1990s, I began noticing a reporter named Chuck Todd on C-Span. He was not afraid to get into the not-so-sexy workings of government. He would talk about an obscure bill before a committee and get into the details. His thirst for knowledge, his quest for understanding, and his calm, sober demeanor were a refreshing change from the entertainers posing as newsmen across the cable networks.
He also understood the political process, beyond the simple division of Democrat vs. Republican or right vs. left.
Eventually, he caught the eye of Tim Russert, who brought him over to NBC as the political director for the network in 2007. There was a natural affinity between the two. Russert himself had an easygoing, inquisitive style that made “Meet the Press” the leading weekly news show in the country.
A year later, Russert died of a heart attack. NBC eventually settled on David Gregory as his replacement on the show, over Chuck Todd. Gregory was smooth, much smoother than Russert. The patrician Gregory had been the White House correspondent for the network, a role he was meant for. But he lacked the nuts-and-bolts wonkishness of Russert. The show went into a slow, steady ratings decline. Finally, in 2014, NBC made the move they should have made six years earlier, moving Todd into the role of host of the Sunday morning show.
It immediately became one of two political shows I would watch every week, the other being “Washington Week in Review.” Gwen Ifill also had Russert as a mentor. She, too, was a serious journalist in a sea of glitzy, noisy talking heads.
Todd talked about her death Sunday. “Gwen was a trailblazer in our field. From newspaper reporter to NBC News correspondent to co-anchor of the ‘NewsHour’ and of course, host of ‘Washington Week,’ she broke a barrier everywhere she went,” Todd said. Gwen was tough and fair, and, at the same time, brought so much joy to her work, not to mention, she had a great B.S. detector, something many politicians learned the hard way. She made everyone around this table a lot smarter.”
And all of us, too.
T.E. McMorrow is a reporter for The Star.