A New Eye on Wisconsin Government and More

Wisconsin's own version of C-SPAN, WisconsinEye, is ambitious in its reach, and it will be interesting to see how it catches on in the state. Have a look, if you haven't already, and let us know what you think.

WisconsinEye, launched in May on the Internet and - as of last month - also available on TV to TimeWarner and Charter subscribers, bills itself as "a statewide public affairs network whose mission is to present an independent statewide view of community affairs and public policy discussion."

It was a long time coming to the state. A C-SPAN channel for Wisconsin has been discussed for years, but never really got off the ground until last spring. Cameras willl cover floor debate in both the State Senate and Assembly, as well as committee meetings, hearings and, eventually, portions of the Judicial and Executive branches. This morning the webcast link took me to a budget hearing from July 25. You can choose to watch a video of the proceedings, or simply to listen, provided you have Windows Media Player or other media software on your PC.

Recognizing that government proceedings can be ... uh ... boring, WisconsinEye's producers have added some feature-like videos, including an on-site tour of last week's EAA event in Oshkosh and the Dalai Lama's visit to Madison in May. As a librarian, I also appreciate "Wisconsin in Words," a Wisconsin version of C-Span's popular Booknotes program. About a half dozen interviews with authors have been archived so far.

Production quality so far leaves a little to be desired. Even with the audio button on my computer turned up all the way I had trouble hearing the discussions. The cameras seem to just sit there in one or two static locations; no one's making an effort to get close-ups or be visually creative at all. But the website is easy enough to navigate, and I'm impressed with the site's goals of objectively covering "local issues and civic activity that reflect the broad range of community and public life in Wisconsin."

Hey, it's a start. If you want to see state government in action, WisconsinEye may be the next best thing to sitting in a Capitol Building hearing room. At least you don't have to deal with Madison traffic.