C-SPAN seeks to air Supreme Court healthcare arguments

Source: LA Times

By David G. Savage

November 15, 2011, 2:49 p.m.
The C-SPAN network, which has tried without success for more than 20 years to bring the Supreme Court into the TV era, is trying again.

A day after the high court announced it would hear more than five hours of oral arguments in March to decide the constitutionality of President Obama’s healthcare law, C-SPAN asked permission to televise the proceeding.

“We believe the public interest is best served by live television coverage of this particular oral argument,” Brian P. Lamb, C-SPAN’s chief executive, said in a letter to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. “It is a case which will affect every American’s life, our economy and will certainly be an issue in the upcoming presidential campaign.”

The public affairs network has broadcast proceedings of the House and Senate since the 1980s. The Supreme Court, however, has refused all requests for live TV or radio broadcasts of its public sessions.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-cspan-healthcare-20111115,0,7060691.story

...and runs them over a video of pictures of who's talking at the time, which has got to be incredibly time-consuming to produce.

Of course, maybe Roberts doesn't want video evidence of all the justices reacting if Thomas ever asks a question again.

People assume the choices are either close-ups of every witness/lawyer/the Judge OR no coverage at all.

All you need for acceptable coverage is a single unobtrusive camera in the back of the room offering the same view that someone sitting in the gallery would have.

they run oral argument audios Fridays following oral arguments now, and might run this one before the Friday, maybe that night or next day (my speculation.)