The founder of America’s leading public affairs media network has issued a warning about government funding of news outlets: Don’t do it.
Brian Lamb, who led the startup of C-SPAN 46 years ago this month, said in a “Founders Day” special just released that he never considered asking for federal funding of the all-Congress cable network and warned that politicians would exert control in return for the support.
“Not only never thought about it, I would have never been involved in it,” Lamb said, adding, “I think it’s a very bad idea to have a government institution fund media in any way. I’ve always felt that way all my life.”
Former Co-CEO Susan Swain, who joined Lamb in an interview with C-SPAN CEO Sam Feist, added that concerns about appearing to be a “propaganda arm” of the government drove the nonprofit network away from considering taxpayer support.
“The most important reason is public trust,” she told Feist. “We never wanted the public to see this as a propaganda arm of the government. It’s done by private industry, and people here who work for private industry, not for the government, making the editorial decisions. That’s important.”
And, she added, federal funding can be unsteady depending on the fickleness of politicians. “We’re seeing great examples of what the government giveth, the government can taketh away,” she said in apparent acknowledgment of current funding wars in Congress and the White House.
The comments are made at a time when President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency are moving swiftly to cut funding to public media outlets, such as Voice of America, that they see as outdated. What’s more, conservatives in Congress are targeting taxpayer funding for National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service, outlets they view as arms of the Democratic Party.
While Lamb nor Swain mentioned those battles, their warning about taking tax dollars was clear, especially for an outlet that covers Congress. Lamb said C-SPAN felt that pressure when it started, even without federal funding.
“Members of Congress wanted to tell us what to do, what hearings to cover, and we were ready for that. But if you’re funded by them, then they think they can tell you what to do,” he said.
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For students of Congress and the media, Feist’s hourlong interview is a gold mine of information about how C-SPAN was created and its most historic moments, from covering the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination to presidential interviews.
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Created by cable TV even before CNN came on the air and started without any of its own cameras, the network is now a staple on cable and satellite and has expanded to the internet and into streaming services, all while continuing its mission to provide both sides of a story without a political filter and bias.
“C-SPAN is viewed, really, as the most nonpartisan news and media outlet in America,” said Feist, CNN’s former Washington bureau chief.