The Future of Television Journalism | Interview: Sam Feist

The Dispatch Podcast

The Dispatch

News, Politics

4.6 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Steve Hayes is joined by C-SPAN CEO Sam Feist to discuss the state of news media and how C-SPAN’s new show might offer a way forward. The Agenda:—News consumption in 2025—Being a “clinician”—C-SPAN’s “Ceasefire”—Challenging the consumer—Camera’s in Washington—C-SPAN’s funding—How C-SPAN is different The Dispatch Podcast is a production of ⁠The Dispatch⁠, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—⁠click here⁠. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member ⁠by clicking here⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Is the political news consumer better off today than he or she was 30 years ago.
0:21.3	We'll discuss that and a lot more with my guest on the Dispatch podcast today.
0:25.8	Sam Feist, who is the CEO of C-SPAN.
0:30.5	Sam, welcome.
0:31.4	Thanks, Steve. Glad to be here.
0:32.8	That question, is the political news consumer better off today than he or she was when you and I arrived in Washington roughly the same time 30 years ago?
0:43.3	The consumer certainly has a lot more choices.
0:47.1	There's a lot more variety.
0:49.7	30 years ago, there was no internet.
0:53.7	So the political news consumer not only had fewer sources,
0:58.3	but far less access to those sources. I think I would sum it up as yes, because I believe in
1:05.2	choices. And every consumer doesn't necessarily want to get their news and information exactly the same way from,
1:12.8	say, the New York Times and a network newscast. And so now they have options. They can still go to
1:18.5	the New York Times. They could still go to a network newscast. But there's so much more. So much more.
1:24.7	And in your view, it sounds like you think more in this case is better.
1:30.1	I think more choices for a political news consumer is better. There's societal implications
1:34.8	about all of those choices, particularly when you add in social media. But as a political
1:42.0	news consumer, I like to have choices. And I have far more choices than I did when you and I started this 30 years ago.
1:49.5	What if more of those choices are bad choices, outlets, purveyors of information that give us crummy information or things that aren't really true.
2:03.5	So as a news consumer myself, I'm going to choose which outlets, I think, give me useful, good,
2:11.7	practical information.
2:13.2	Once again, from a societal perspective, I think getting flooded with less accurate, less credible information is bad for society.
	...

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