The House Judiciary Committee is set to have a field hearing in New York City on Monday over “Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan,” which "will examine how Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s pro-crime, anti-victim policies have led to an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New York City residents."
One question coming from the event is whether C-SPAN, which promotes itself as giving "access to the live gavel-to-gavel proceedings of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate," will broadcast the hearing live when it takes place.
According to a source on Capitol Hill, the drama between the House Judiciary Committee and the network began once again after staff attempted to have C-SPAN be the pool camera for the hearing. C-SPAN at first seemed interested but a few days later Jon Kelley, C-SPAN's assignment desk manager, told the staffers, "we won't be able send a crew to cover the House Judiciary field hearing on Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan on Monday. I know it is making a lot of news and we did look at possible coverage but we just don't have the resources at this time."
Latest Manhattan Crime Headlines:
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) April 12, 2023
“Suspect sought after 17-year-old shot and injured in Manhattan.”
“Police investigating after shots fired in Hell’s Kitchen.”
“Man shot in the head in East Harlem.”
This caused frustration and confusion considering Monday's hearing is the only House hearing for that day and it is happening in New York City. When staffers asked for clarification, C-SPAN did not return their emails.
Tensions between the Judiciary Committee and C-SPAN have been on the rise after C-SPAN refused to broadcast the field hearing about the border crisis in Yuma, Arizona. At first, they said they would not send a crew because Democrats on the committee would not be in attendance, but then blamed a lack of resources. C-SPAN has aired at least one field hearing in the past when Democrats were only in attendance.
“It’s disappointing that C-SPAN refuses to cover Republican-led House Judiciary Committee field hearings, especially when they had no issue covering Democrat-run field hearings in the past. If C-SPAN is worried about ‘cord-cutting,’ maybe they should be more fair in their editorial decisions and cover hearings that people actually care about instead of the liberal content they currently produce," a source familiar with matter told Townhall.
"Until then, I hope everyone cancels their C-SPAN subscription and uses their money to support real news organizations that cover both sides of the aisle. Let’s also hope there are serious discussions on Capitol Hill to remove their camera-monopoly of the House floor and committee hearings as well."
Joe Biden’s America. Alvin Bragg’s city. https://t.co/Bcckr5zCHw
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) April 12, 2023
After Townhall reached out to C-SPAN for comment, they appeared to be backtracking because now the network is "still researching options with other media organizations for coverage of this hearing," according to Richard Weinstein, vice-president of content. But they did not, as of press time, tell that to the Judiciary Committee.