50th Anniversary of Wasteland Speech

[salvorhardin]

Monday will mark the 50th anniversary of FCC Chairman Newton Minnow's famous "Television and the Public Interest", aka the "Vast Wasteland", speech to the National Association of Broadcasters. WNYC's On The Media did a story reporting on the reaction to Minnow's speech at the time. The audio is online now, transcript will be available Monday.

Fifty years ago, speaking to the National Association of Broadcasters, FCC Chairman Newton Minnow called television a "vast wasteland." It was one of the most celebrated speeches ever delivered. WNYC’s Sarah Fishko looks back at the seminal address.

Link: http://onthemedia.org/transcripts/2011/05/06/07

You can read or listen to Minnow's complete speech here: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/newtonminow.htm

balance. I believe that the public interest is made up of many interests. There are many people in this great country and you must serve all of us. You will get no argument from me if you say that, given a choice between a western and a symphony, more people will watch the western. I like westerns too, but a steady diet for the whole country is obviously not in the public interest. We all know that people would more often prefer to be entertained than stimulated or informed. But your obligations are not satisfied if you look only to popularity as a test of what to broadcast. You are not only in show business; you are free to communicate ideas as well as relaxation.

...

You must provide a wider range of choices, more diversity, more alternatives. It is not enough to cater to the nation's whims; you must also serve the nation's needs. And I would add this: that if some of you persist in a relentless search for the highest rating and the lowest common denominator, you may very well lose your audience.