Though Minow remained in the FCC post just two years, he left a permanent stamp on the broadcasting industry through government steps to foster satellite communications, the passage of a law mandating UHF reception on TV sets and his outspoken advocacy for quality in television. He was 97.
After more than seven decades practicing law, Sidley Austin senior counsel Newt Minow, who will turn 96 next month, still sounds as enthusiastic about the work as a starry-eyed first-year associate. A lion of the bar, Minow was chairman of the FCC during the Kennedy administration. At a 1961 speech to the National Association of Broadcasters, he memorably called television “a vast wasteland.” (The shipwrecked SS Minnow of Gilligan’s Island later was named after him in sarcastic homage.)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor to 21 groundbreaking actors, musicians, athletes and innovators who inspired him over the years and “helped make me […]
President Barack Obama today unveiled 21 recipients for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Among them are Ellen DeGeneres, Lorne Michaels and former FCC Chairman Newton Minow
Newton Minow and Henry Geller are asking the FCC to change its rule that requires only disclosure of the actual sponsor of issue ads to also require identification of the individuals or groups who donated funds to the sponsor such ads.
A Glimmer Of Hope In the Vast Wasteland
The presidential debates are an institution now, and among the most watched television events in America. Despite a rocky history, the debates are one place in the modern campaign — perhaps the only place — where the voter is treated with respect.
Exclusives
A half century following Newton Minow’s famous speech to America’s young television industry, has the vast wasteland only gotten vaster? Watch a discussion on the changed landscape of television and dramatic shifts in the broader media ecosystem, and identify lessons learned that may help to offer insight into the next 50 years of media and public discourse.
Why ‘Vast Wasteland’ Speech Was A Failure
Fifty years ago this week, newly appointed FCC Chairman Newton N. Minow delivered one of the most electrifying speeches ever given by a bureaucrat of the U.S. government. Everyone remembers the two words that entered the cultural lexicon afterward: “vast wasteland.” But few remember why Minow’s sermonette caused such a sensation at the time. Even fewer can recall the sweeping promises the FCC chairman made in that speech or that he failed to deliver on any of them.
