C-SPAN leader retires with shot at Washington: ‘Lying’ is word I’d use to describe town

C-SPAN Chairman Brian Lamb is retiring from the cable network he founded more than 40 years ago, and he’s taking a parting shot at Washington, D.C.

“Lying is the word that I would use to describe this town,” Lamb told The Wall Street Journal in a recent interview about his retirement.

{mosads}“I don’t know if it will ever stop. It’s gotten worse rather than getting better, and both sides do it. You’ve got to listen very carefully to what they’re saying,” he continued. 

Lamb, a former U.S. Navy officer, got his idea for a nonprofit Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network, or C-SPAN, approved by Congress in December 1977. The network launched two years later with just four employees, including Lamb. 

It has since grown to include two additional channels — C-SPAN2, which covers the Senate floor when the body is in sessions, and C-SPAN3. 

In 2002, Lamb was awarded with the National Press Club’s Fourth Estate Award. 

Lamb, 77, is set to wrap up his Sunday night interview program “Q&A,” which he’s hosted for more than 30 years, on May 19. His final guest will be historian David McCullough. 

“There’s a lot about this town that you can’t figure out,” he told the Journal. “What you can’t see is the incredible value, or influence, of lobbyists,” Lamb added. “They’re hidden. They’re writing legislation. They’re writing speeches. They’re feeding the process.”