ABSTRACT
Most revolutions begin with a simple idea, a person who believes in it, and a lot of hard work. To a large degree, the more simple the idea the more revolutionary its consequences. America’s founders believed in open government (although they did carry out their most creative task of writing the Constitution in secret). After a number of years on Capitol Hill as a senatorial aide and reporter, Brian Lamb had become tired of sound bites, journalists’ “talking heads,” and major stories failing to receive coverage. Even major political leaders found their well-reasoned ideas clipped and chopped. The average length of direct quotes for presidential candidates dropped from 43 seconds to a fi fth of that twenty years later. 1 Members of Congress were afforded even less time to make their arguments. While the galleries of the House and Senate were open to the public, the distribution of the story had not kept up with new technology allowing the public to see what Congress was doing unedited and undiluted.
