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Vast Wasteland

“When television is good, nothing—not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers—nothing is better,” he told Congress. “But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.” Newton N. Minow. Excerpt from speech given to the National Association of Broadcasters. May 9, 1961.

Newton N. Minow

Newton N. Minow was well versed in the broadcasting industry and is known for being a supporter of public broadcasting over commercial broadcasting. The phrase “Vast Wasteland” was coined by Newton N. Minow in a speech delivered to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961. Newton N. Minow was the newly appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in the 1960’s. As his first speech as chairman, “Vast Wasteland” changed broadcasting significantly. The phrase was used as a metaphor for the violent, boring, and children influencing nature of broadcast television. Newton N. Minow’s goal for his speech was to encourage broadcasters clean up the industry. He claimed that his aim was not to censor networks, but if they did not start creating content that served the public interest their funding would be limited.

Reaction

This speech sent waves throughout the broadcasting community. With the delivery of the speech Newton N. Minow called out broadcasters for catering to their stockholders but ignoring their audience. His call to action was for the broadcasting executives to reevlaute the way they think about creating programming for their viewers. This did not sit well with broadcasters who believed it meant more regulations and a limit to their "free speech". For the public on the other hand, Newton N. Minow spoke of much needed change and he became a household name which was unheard of for a member of the Federal Communications Commission. The phrase itself, "Vast Wasteland", made its way into the public's minds simply because the words themselves held a truth that the public was feeling as well.

Effects

While it might seem like Newton N. Minow's idea of a "Vast Wasteland" has gotten worse with the rise of streaming services, social media, and an endless amount of content, he is still proud of the way broadcasting has turned out. Specifically, Newton N. Minow takes pride in the strides that educational broadcasting and children's broadcasting has taken. Mothers in the late 20th century took it upon themselves to fight against violence and sexual themes on television and while it has not gone away, there are so many more options that children are less likely to be exposed to such content which was Minow's main goal. Although Newton N. Minow still believes there is work to be done about the public's distrust in the news, he considers his call for broadcasting reform successful. Minow had hope that his speech would offer up many different choices to the public so that each person could find content for themselves. In his eyes it has been successful with the widely saturated streaming market as the prime example of this.