Students social studies and journalism classes toured the mobile unit C-SPAN bus on December 6.  The bus was parked in the overlook parking lot and groups of 12 students at a time took part in a presentation and activities. The C Span Bus is a vehicle used by the C-SPAN television network. C-SPAN stands for Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network.

C-SPAN is a political television network which is funded by the people. When people pay their cable bills every month, six cents is taken out of everybody’s bill and given to C-SPAN. C-SPAN broadcasts on three channels:  Live video of the House of Representatives, the Senate and government hearings.

Because of this, the television network is able to stay unbiased and show all sides of political issues along with not needing to run advertisements. The network describes itself as a nonprofit company that receives no government funding.

The C-SPAN bus travels to high schools and colleges throughout the United States, and they have visited all 50 states. The tour of the bus includes a presentation about video journalism production and filming.

Freshman Lawrence Liu said “The bus was really awesome and I got to sit in the spot where Bernie Sanders sat.”

On the bus, there are multiple televisions, cameras, and computers which allow for presentations during tours. This technology also allows for the crew to interview people anywhere they want to using the bus as their studio.

“Seeing the bus in person is completely different than reading about it online,” said social studies teacher Mr. Janvier Beaver.

If you want to request the bus to come visit your school or other event, you can contact your local cable provider.