Live C-SPAN broadcast focuses on new institute
Dedication events attract media to KU
Brian Lamb’s “Washington Journal” came to Lawrence, and the program drew questions and comments from 34 callers throughout the country.
And from his director’s chair in the lobby of the Dole Institute of Politics, the host of C-SPAN’s signature TV show knew his work Monday would pave the way for thousands of future visitors to the institute, Kansas University and Lawrence.
“If this thing is going to work, you have to have the media,” said Lamb, chief executive officer and founder of cable television’s family of commercial-free political networks. “The media is the key to getting this thing into the minds of people. How else are they going to know that it’s here? … The media plays a big role.”
The Dole Institute will be on center stage again today, as reporters ranging from small newspapers to NBC’s “Today” show converge to share stories about the man, mission and media draw behind the new political center on west campus.
The building’s namesake — having long sought to redirect his spotlight to Kansans, World War II veterans and other members of the “Greatest Generation” — welcomes the chance to make news outside Washington, where he spent more than 30 years on Capitol Hill.
“It’s good for the building, it’s good for the University of Kansas and it’s good for the area,” said former Sen. Bob Dole, walking to his car after appearing as a guest on Lamb’s show. “Nobody’s mad at anybody. Nobody’s beating anybody up. This is great. …
“Being on C-SPAN is a good opportunity to talk to people,” Dole said. “You don’t have a 30-second time frame.”
Try two hours.
Lamb focused attention on the institute from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., as his “Washington Journal” show ran commercial-free from inside the institute.
A 15-member team of C-SPAN professionals made it happen. Two cameras focused on Lamb as he interviewed Richard Norton Smith, the institute’s director; and then Dole, who celebrates his 80th birthday today. The building will be dedicated today during a ceremony beginning at 10:30 a.m.
C-SPAN’s eight phone lines helped keep the show humming, as callers posed questions from Troy, Mich.; Deerfield Beach, Fla.; Rome, Ga.; Fairfax, Va., and dozens of other places.
C-SPAN figures about 28 million people regularly watch one of its three networks: C-SPAN, C-SPAN2 or C-SPAN3. The demographics of those viewers: 98 percent vote, and the majority are considered “influentials,” or the kind of folks who write letters to the editor, serve as educators and own businesses.
“These people care about politics,” said Maura Pierce, a C-SPAN producer. “They care about the country, and they care about how it’s being run.”
They’re also loyal, Pierce said, a trait not lost on Smith.
When a viewer in Chicago called in to question the appropriateness of a public university spending millions of dollars — $11.3 million, to be exact — to put up a building for a senator, Smith didn’t miss a beat.
Dole himself, Smith said, emphasized that the institute should focus on more than his papers or background and should weave itself into the university’s academic fabric.
“This will bring people to this campus who wouldn’t come otherwise,” Smith said, as a camera followed him through the institute’s exhibits.
Video reports
6News video: Dole puts focus on leadership
Monday event photos
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