first started. but i think in the 1978, 1979 a new breed of congressman of which newt gingrich was a leader of. they were technologists and they weren t satisfied with the status quo. according to c-span president and co-ceo, when republican newt gingrich came to the hill as a freshman in 1979, he quickly embraced the new tv surface because it gave him the opportunity to bypass traditional news outlets. i have a vivid recollection of one night when we were covering one of these big congressional dinners. newt gingrich was not in the ballroom. he was standing behind our producers and directors watching them produce. he was fas nigcinated by what hs seeing in the room versus what was happening in the room. radical democrats perfected the technique of not holding