Today Rep. Jim Moran became the first member of congress to get his own On Demand channel.
Jim Moran On Demand is now available to thousands local Comcast, Cox and Via Media cable customers. It will feature information and news programming, including in-depth, fireside chat-style policy discussions.
A preview of the channel’s slickly-produced videos is now up on YouTube.
To access the channel on Comcast, go to the On Demand menu, select “Searchlight,” then select “Inside the Beltway,” then “My Government” then “MiCongress.” The technology for the service is provided through a company called iConstituent.
“Given Northern Virginia’s mobile, fast-moving population, this is proactive way to supply information and reach out to new residents on an ongoing basis,” Moran said in a statement. “Now constituents can tune in any time of day to hear the latest on what’s happening in Congress and the community. I’m really excited about it and look forward to hearing people’s feedback.”
Not everybody thinks it’s a good thing, though. Virginia political blogger Ben Tribbett says the channel is “an absolutely horrible idea.”
“Incumbents already have plenty of advantages, without getting their own channel for propaganda on local cable TV,” writes Tribbett, a Democrat. “I understand why the cable companies would do this, to curry favor with incumbents, but it ought to be outlawed.”