Historical Archaeology will be Televised: Ethics, Archaeology,
and Popular Culture  The hallmark of digital democracy may well
be C-SPAN (Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network), the network
that provides gavel-to-gavel coverage of the US Congress.  One
2009 poll indicated that 20% of Americans watch the non-profit
channel, which provides oppressively thorough and largely
unfiltered coverage of the Congress and American political
events.  C-SPAN aspires to present unmediated news that moves at
the speed of real-life: Congressional meetings, for instance,
are long stretches of bureaucratic discussions punctuated by
consequential but somewhat understated decisions.  Oddly enough,
C-SPAN’s pace is a lot like archaeology.  In contrast, most 21st
century consumers are accustomed to receiving news as reductive
“talking points,” acrimonious quotations, or short messages
scrawling along the bottom of the screen during a football
game.  This presentation of the news is nearly indistinguishable
from all our other telev