Government: It's not pretty, but tune in anyway

Making laws, it has often been said, is a lot like making sausages — you might be quite pleased with the final product but you really don't want to watch the process or know what goes into it.

The folks at C-SPAN disagree. They may not know bratwurst from knockwurst but they do know about laws — the best and the wurst. Lawmaking and the whole, often-ugly legislative process is C-SPAN's entire raison d'etre, and on Friday, C-SPAN will celebrate its 25th anniversary of doing what no other news organization in this country does.

C-SPAN enables the American public — that 10 percent of the American public that's really interested — to watch the political process live, daily, gavel to gavel, whether it's a routine session of the House of Representatives; an emotion-charged and Constitution-challenging committee hearing on Iran-Contra, gays in the military, Enron or homeland security; or a confirmation battle over Clarence Thomas, Robert Bork or Janet Reno.

Public cynicism toward the political process and those in government has increased steadily for more than 30 years, and voter turnout has declined just as steadily. I don't think that's a coincidence. But contrary to the conventional wisdom, voters may not have been turned off — and away — because they've seen too much of the process.

Rather, if the C-SPAN audience and research are any indication, the problem is that most Americans have seen too little; they've seen only the worst parts of the process — the corruption, the scandals, the hypocrisy, the blatant displays of vested self-interest.

Brian Lamb — the founder and CEO of C-SPAN — says "early indications" from recent surveys done for his organization show that "the people who watch us and see all those hearings and all that process, up close and personal, actually think better of the system than the ones who don't, because even though it's not a pretty process, the watchers see it and understand it better."

As a result, Lamb says, 90 percent of regular C-SPAN watchers are also regular voters — a number that's about double the turnout for the public at large.

Yes, the legislative process can be boring, but over time, the insights it provides are invaluable — especially now. At a time when most of the nation's news media seem increasingly preoccupied with sensationalism and celebrity — Mel's "Passion," Martha's trial, Janet's breast — C-SPAN's role is increasingly important.