Newton Minow: Vast Wasteland Speech

The complexity and problems of television are not unlike those that plague other mediums of the 21st century.  On May 9, 1961 Newton Minow, the chairman of the Federal Communication Commission, tried to address and motivate movers of the broadcast industry to fix and improve the medium.  Minow was critical of the television medium in his 1961 speech at the National Association of Broadcasters conference.   He called the television medium a wasteland that was not properly catering to the real needs of the general public. 

Minow's speech was indeed impressive, as he was able to point out the flaws of the television medium in such a way, as to try to motivate those within the industry to work to change the medium.  Within Minow's speech, he does not simply sit those working within the television industry down for a scolding, he points out problems yes, but more than that, he provides input about how the medium could be better.  Minow advocates throughout his speech for example for better educational programming for children.  He points to how the home, school, church, and now television, influence to a great degree the lives of children.  Children he says now spend as much time in front of the television as they do in school.  What this means Minow says is that television embodies a great ability to influence and shape the minds of these children who will one day lead and contribute to society. 

He challenges those powerful individuals within the industry to sit for one whole day in front of the television, and watch their own programming.  He asks them to not have any other materials that could work as distractions from the programming.  Through his challenge he is able to point out and assert his point about how the television medium has turned into a wasteland; as the majority of programming is no better than waste.  Minow says that because those working in the television broadcast industry are making money and earning a living from this "public airway," they have a responsibility to improve and make the medium benefit the public as best they can.

Minow's speech is motivational, and the points he makes in his speech are still problems that plague the television broadcast industry of today.  Though individuals may not be spending as much time sitting in front of televisions watching traditional broadcast television, individuals are still watching television programming to a great extent on other devices.  Advertising dollars and ratings still affect the types of programming that viewers are shown.  And although PBS does try incorporate and include more more educational programs into the broadcast industry, a lot of the television programming of today is still the wasteland that Minow described almost 50 years ago.