C-SPAN to wheel into JC on rolling bus tour of state capitals

One of C-SPAN's buses touring state capitols.
One of C-SPAN's buses touring state capitols.

C-SPAN is coming to Jefferson City on Tuesday to engage with state and local politicians and public middle school students.

The cable public affairs network that covers congressional hearings and other Washington, D.C., affairs like lectures, panel discussions and presidential ceremonies kicked off a "50 Capitals Tour" in September, which will bring a hi-tech motor coach bus to every U.S. capital through November 2018.

Jefferson City Mayor Carrie Tergin will officially greet the C-SPAN team and open the C-SPAN bus for public tours on the south side of the Capitol at 9:30 a.m. The public tours will be open for an hour, according to a news release from Phyllis Peters. Peters is the communications director of Mediacom's community relations department; Mediacom is partnered with C-SPAN to bring the bus to Missouri.

Visitors will find inside the bus an operational TV studio for taped and live programming. Missouri Secretary of State John R. "Jay" Ashcroft will be the featured guest on the Tuesday edition of C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" signature morning program, which will air live from the bus's studio before the bus is open to the public.

The bus also features 11 large-screen tablets that hold C-SPAN programming and political and educational resources; a smart TV and classroom area for conversations with students and teachers; a "360-degree video station featuring C-SPAN's unfiltered coverage of high-profile events and insightful, behind-the-scenes tours of U.S. landmarks;" and a "D.C.-themed selfie station" through which people can share their bus experiences on social media.

"C-SPAN representatives will also gather video responses from visitors as part of its 'Voices from the States' - an opportunity for visitors to share viewpoints on state issues and what they think Washington leaders should do to address local concerns," the news release said.

Once the bus rolls away from the Capitol at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, it will head to Lewis and Clark Middle School, where it will be parked from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. After Lewis and Clark, the bus will move to Thomas Jefferson Middle School from 1:15-2:45 p.m.

When the bus visits schools, students and teachers will learn about C-SPAN's national documentary competition, StudentCam. The competition awards $100,000 in prize money, and has students produce a five- to seven-minute documentary using C-SPAN video to "explore a local or national issue of importance. This year's theme, 'The Constitution and You,' asks students to pick any provision of the U.S. Constitution and illustrate why it's important to them."

"These community and school visits in Jefferson City and Columbia continue C-SPAN's long tradition of sharing robust educational and non-partisan political resources with the public," Mediacom Area Operations Director Steve Bennett said.

Mediacom provides all three C-SPAN networks in Jefferson City as a commerical-free public service: C-SPAN on channel 97; C-SPAN2 on channel 87; and C-SPAN3 on channel 88 and on the web at C-SPAN.org. Cable and satellite providers fund C-SPAN operations, including the bus visits.