Lincoln and C-SPAN
April 30, 2010
Abraham Lincoln was president before the recordings of the Video Library. That should not keep you from typing his name into the Video Library search box. Yes, like 150,000 other people, he has a bio page. This page shows you the time period he served in the House of Representatives and even the committees he served on. The related persons link on the right side of his bio page shows twelve people who have portrayed Lincoln on C-SPAN. These include enactments of the Lincoln-Douglas debates as well as major speeches Lincoln gave.
The search results show that there are 529 programs that reference Lincoln in the title, summary, or keywords. You can narrow these to book programs by modifying your search. Click on add a search term, then choose tag, and then Book TV. This results in 176 book programs about Lincoln.
Finally, you will notice from the search page that there are almost 6,000 programs that reference Lincoln in transcripts. Try typing in Lincoln slavery in the search box to find about fifty programs on this topic.
If you would prefer to read more about Lincoln programs on C-SPAN check out the new Lincoln book now in paperback. Edited by C-SPAN and drawn from C-SPAN interviews, this book includes “Fascinating, little-known anecdotes about the president are brought to light in richly detailed essays drawn from C-SPAN interviews. Extras include 16 pages of color photos and four maps that detail where Abraham Lincoln lived, the location of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln’s Inaugural journey to Washington and the path his funeral train took when returning him to Springfield. A timeline of Abraham Lincoln’s life, brief biographies of the 56 contributing authors, and Lincoln’s most famous speeches are also included.”
There is much about Lincoln on C-SPAN each weekend on C-SPAN2 BookTV, C-SPAN3 History, in the Video Library, and now in our new paperback Lincoln book. Check it out.
Funerals on C-SPAN
April 29, 2010
The funeral service for civil rights leader Dorothy Height is an occasion to recall the funerals of other women on C-SPAN. C-SPAN covers many funerals because they feature prominent public policy speakers eulogizing the deceased. Some of the prominent women including civil rights leaders whose funerals C-SPAN has covered include Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Barbara Jordan, Mother Teresa, Rose Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Pamela Harriman, and Bella Abzug.
Clinton on Tomorrow Country
Bill Clinton spoke about the need for the U.S. to be a “tomorrow country.” The transcript detail allows you to see when President Clinton begins speaking and allows you to play from that point. His remarks were the topic of our Washington Journal call-in this morning. Hear what our callers said by clicking here.
Media Note Strong Language on C-SPAN
April 28, 2010
Many of the nation’s media outlets have commented on the use of off-color language by Senator Levin (D-MI) at yesterday’s Goldman Sachs hearing. Examples are Fishbowl, DC, Talking Points Memo, The Atlanta Constitution, The Atlantic Wire, and TV Guide.
Amid all the buzz about how C-SPAN did not bleep out the words, it is important to note that C-SPAN covers events in their entirety without editing or commentary. It was a public hearing and the words were said by an elected U.S. Senator presiding over the hearing. Our viewers might be buzzing more than the media, if we did not let them hear Levin’s remarks in their entirety.
It is often said that C-SPAN covers the unvarnished process of law making. Yesterday’s hearing was clearly one without any varnish.
Studentcam on C-SPAN
If you missed any of Studentcam on C-SPAN, you can find them all in the Video Library. Studentcam is our annual contest for middle school and high school students to produce a video using C-SPAN. The winners all had impressive work and are impressive in themselves.
Catch their works by typing in studentcam into the search box. There were twenty-seven winning entries. Each appeared on the Washington Journal to discuss their work and their works were also shown separately in another program. The general search will bring up both.
To narrow in on the works only, try this trick. Use Advanced Search and type in studentcam in the first field. Add another field and select format. Use the drop down and select vignette. Finally, narrow the search to 2010 to get this year’s winners.
However, you might find this year’s so interesting that you want to watch the past year in the Video Library as well.