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How to watch former FBI director James Comey’s testimony before Congress

You may need a couple screens for this one.

James Comey Testifies At Senate Hearing On Russian Interference In US Election
James Comey Testifies At Senate Hearing On Russian Interference In US Election
Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Peter Kafka
Peter Kafka covered media and technology, and their intersection, at Vox. Many of his stories can be found in his Kafka on Media newsletter, and he also hosts the Recode Media podcast.

Former FBI director James Comey will testify before the Senate intelligence committee on Thursday at 7 am PT / 10 am ET.

Comey will be asked about his conversations with President Donald Trump on the FBI’s investigations into the Trump campaign’s possible connections to Russia. He’s already provided the text of his opening remarks, which align with much of the reporting we’ve seen in recent weeks about his interactions with Trump.

Update: These are the top revelations from former FBI director James Comey’s testimony before Congress so far.

Trump, meanwhile, is reportedly planning to respond to Comey’s testimony in the moment, on Twitter — a tactic he and his team have already used earlier this year.

So Comey’s remarks, and Trump’s reaction, are likely to be the biggest political/media event since last fall’s election. More than that, the spectacle has the potential to be as historic as the 1991 Anita Hill hearings, or the 1987 Oliver North hearings.

It will be easy to watch Comey’s testimony: All four the major broadcast TV networks — CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox — will carry the event live, as will all of the cable news networks. Many of them will also provide free access to their coverage via their own digital apps, or on streaming services.

You can also choose to watch the hearings via feeds from organizations that don’t have a TV network, including the New York Times and Vox.com (Vox is owned by Vox Media, which also owns this site).

Here’s a sampling of what’s available on various digital platforms:

Facebook says it will offer livestreams from: BuzzFeed, NowThis, NBC News, Vox, ATTN, Townhall Media, IJR, Politico, NPR, Free Beacon and Daily Caller.

YouTube says it will have livestreams from: NBC News, ABC News, CBS News and PBS NewsHour. (We’ve embedded PBS NewsHour’s above)

Twitter will point its users to livestreaming coverage from Bloomberg, the news organization it is partnering with for an upcoming 24/7 live news channel. Other news organizations, including PBS, will use Twitter’s Periscope service to carry the event as well.

One thing that distinguishes Comey’s testimony from other media/political events — and big media events in general, for that matter — is that this one is happening during the day (or during the morning commute, depending on which part of the U.S. you live in). So while it’s going to be a very big TV event, this is one where the internet may play an equally large role, since streaming may be the easiest way for many people to watch.

Add in the odds that Trump will chime in and the fact that a swarm of digital commentators will be annotating the event in real time, and Thursday looks like something we’ve never seen before: A multimedia news event where news will be breaking on multiple screens, at the same time.


This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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