Key Points
- C-SPAN will embed journalists and reporters across the country, covering key gubernatorial races and campaigns for U.S. House and U.S. Senate seats.
- As part of a new public service initiative, C-SPAN will provide full video and interviews to partner local non-profit newsrooms and independent media outlets for free.
- Initial coverage will focus on 10 battleground states, with additional regions expected as the campaign progresses.
C-SPAN has unveiled a new initiative that aims to assist local newsrooms across the country with nonpartisan coverage of the midterm elections.
The initiative, called “Road to the Capitol: Candidate Coverage,” will see C-SPAN journalists deployed to key races across the country, with ample coverage of U.S. Senate, U.S. House and gubernatorial campaigns.
As part of the initiative, C-SPAN journalists and photographers will record candidate town halls, forums, campaign stops and other events, then offer full-length video coverage and interviews to participating non-profit local newsrooms and independent media outlets at no cost, executives said on Monday.
The initiative represents what C-SPAN describes as a first-of-its-kind partnership between a national public affairs television network and local media organizations centered on sharing campaign video coverage.
“Local political journalism is shrinking at exactly the moment voters need it most,” C-SPAN Chief Executive Officer Sam Feist said in a statement. “Congressional campaign events and town halls frequently go unrecorded. Candidates hold forums with no video journalists in the room. Voters in district after district are left without seeing video of the people seeking to represent them.”
Feist said the network hopes to help fill what he described as a growing gap in political reporting ahead of what he called one of the most consequential midterm election cycles in recent history.
“his may become the most important midterm election in modern history – and the most uncovered by video journalists. C-SPAN is helping to fill this video void, and we’re grateful to have partners who share that urgency funding this work,” Feist promised.
Initial reporting teams will be stationed in Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas, with plans to expand into additional states as the 2026 campaign season accelerates.
C-SPAN said the project is intended to address a growing shortage of local political journalism, particularly video coverage of congressional campaigns. The network noted that many local news organizations no longer have sufficient staffing or video resources to consistently cover candidate appearances, leaving voters without opportunities to watch candidates speak directly to constituents.
A Washington-based editorial team will coordinate the field reporting effort and oversee distribution of campaign footage to participating media partners.
The embedded journalist positions are newly created and are being funded through philanthropic support. Founding partners include the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and More Perfect.
