C-SPAN uses social media feeds to cover sit-in protest

In this frame grab taken from AP video Georgia Rep. John Lewis, center, leads a sit-in of more than 200 Democrats in demanding a vote on measures to expand background checks and block gun purchases by some suspected terrorists in the aftermath of last week’s massacre in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people in a gay nightclub.  AP

NEW YORK—With the cameras it uses to cover Congress shut off, C-SPAN turned to social media feeds on Wednesday to beam live coverage of the House Democrat’s sit-in to demand votes on gun control legislation.

“No bills, no break,” the Democrats chanted in between a succession of speeches.

The nonprofit cable and satellite network C-SPAN and its offshoot covers each session of the House of Representatives and Senate, using cameras placed in the chambers and controlled by the government.

The network is independent, however, and accepts no government money, said C-SPAN spokesperson Howard Mortman.

Through those cameras, C-SPAN aired the beginning of the protest with a speech by Democratic Rep. John Lewis of Georgia.

When it became clear that Democrats were conducting a sit-in, the Republicans in control ordered the House into recess and shut down the network’s cameras.

But two protesting representatives, Scott Peters of California and Beto O’Rourke of Texas, provided footage of the sit-in through Periscope and Facebook, and C-SPAN picked up those feeds to offer continuous coverage of the sit-in in an unprecedented move.

“Our mission is to show what is happening in Congress and this is part and parcel of what is happening in Congress,” Mortman said.

On its YouTube page, C-SPAN made available Lewis’ speech before the cameras were shut down.

Lewis, a civil rights era veteran, said that “sometimes you have to do something out of the ordinary.”  AP