By Thomas M. Sipos Santa Monica
Shame on Time-Warner cable! Upon buying Adelphia, they dropped C-SPAN 2 from basic tier and replaced it with... a blank screen!
All three C-SPAN channels are a vital public service. It’s what the lucrative cable monopolies pay for the privilege of operating outside the free market. Sure, C-SPAN 2 is still carried on Santa Monica’s City-TV, but not 24/7.
Most other “news” sources are partisan and dummied-down. From neo-con Reich-Wing Radio to their knee-jerk opposites on Air America, from biased blogs to YouTube clowns, people go to whichever carnival barker tells them what they want to hear.
Amid this idiocracy, C-SPAN shines as a stark example of unbiased, intelligent and in-depth political coverage. C- SPAN, C-SPAN 2 and C-SPAN 3 should all be available on the basic tier of every cable system.
The media monopolies owe it to us.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 16, 2007. Read the original PDF.