C-SPAN's Campaign 2008 Bus, a 45-foot mobile production studio, visited the Polytechnic campus Monday to educate first-time voters about C-SPAN's nonpartisan political coverage.
Workers in the Campaign 2008 Bus spent the morning giving tours and mini-lectures to Polytechnic students after making an appearance at the Tempe campus Sunday evening while students waited in line for the Rock the Vote concert.
The bus travels across the nation to "promote and enhance C-SPAN's extensive coverage of the historic 2008 presidential race," their Web site said.
In between educational outreach visits at high schools and universities promoting awareness about bias in network media, the bus covers major political events and tours of state capitols.
"A lot of college students are first-time voters this year," said Jeremy Art, C-SPAN marketing representative and ASU alumnus.
"They'll know about network news like CNN or Fox News but won't be aware about bias in the news,” he said. “We want to show them C-SPAN is where to go to get unedited, unbiased coverage of campaigns."
Art said C-SPAN is not saying students should avoid network news but is encouraging media consumers to use C-SPAN as a supplement to better inform themselves.
The Associated Students of ASU Polytechnic have been collaborating with Voteworks to register Polytechnic students to vote. Voteworks works to educate, motivate, mobilize and support nonpartisan, business-led efforts to register people to vote, according to their Web site.
“It’s great that C-SPAN is promoting more political engagement and education here at Poly,” said Alicia Cybulski, field organizer for Voteworks.
Students were interested in learning what type of information C-SPAN offers to voters.
Engineering freshman Jonathan Trusler said most other stations are biased.
“My friend has a great line: ‘Why doesn’t everybody just watch C-SPAN?’ and I agree with that,” he said.
Trusler said he watches C-SPAN when he wants reliable information.
“Sometimes it’s still the best thing on television,” he said. “There’s nothing better to watch. They’re always talking about things that affect us; it’s a lot better than reality television.”
The campaign bus was created in November 1993 and has been following politics around the country for 15 years. It has a fully equipped TV production unit that can be used as production studios during live programs and interviews.
In 2007, C-SPAN added another campaign bus, allowing one bus to cover the Democratic campaign and another to follow the Republican trail.
The last stop for the Campaign 2008 Bus will be the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix on Tuesday night at McCain’s election-night party.
Reach the reporter at afleisha@asu.edu.
