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After Republicans turn off C-SPAN cameras during sit-in, network turns to Periscope

Where there's a will, there's a way.

 

Patrick Howell O'Neill

Tech

Posted on Jun 22, 2016   Updated on May 26, 2021, 1:47 pm CDT

If you turned on the TV to watch the Democratic sit-in on the House floor protesting Congress’s inaction on guns, you were out of luck for several hours on Wednesday. The Republican House leadership, which controls the cameras, cut the feed to C-SPAN, which would normally broadcast from the floor.

Then C-SPAN found a way.

The cameras stayed off, but Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) started a Periscope live video stream that was picked up by C-SPAN and given center stage.

“Cameras in chamber controlled by house. House is currently in recess subject to call. House cameras are not permitted to show sit-in,” C-SPAN’s ticker read.

https://twitter.com/Khanoisseur/status/745694551982018560

All the network needed was a smartphone to get around that.

https://twitter.com/periscopetv/status/745690237666365441

The feed showed up on other television stations briefly as well, before a Hillary Clinton stump speech took over the airwaves. 

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*First Published: Jun 22, 2016, 3:48 pm CDT