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Worm's Sci Fi HavenDiscussion of science fiction and fantasy |
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Liege-Killer
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Post subject: "Television and the Public Interest" - 1961 speech  Posted: Tue Jul 01, 08 4:48 pm |
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| Moderator - Book Reviewer |
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Joined: Sun Jun 26, 05 12:32 am
Posts: 3430
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I found this speech made in 1961 by Newton Minow, FCC chairman, to the National Association of Broadcasters. Some of it sounds vaguely familiar, as if I've heard it quoted before, but I never knew where it came from. It's a very interesting speech, and Minow's criticisms of television are as relevant today as they were 47 years ago.
It's pretty long, but the central point is along these lines:
Quote: 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.
You will see a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And endlessly commercials -- many screaming, cajoling, and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you'll see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, I only ask you to try it.
Is there one person in this room who claims that broadcasting can't do better? Later on he talks about the ratings system and says this: Quote: A rating, at best, is an indication of how many people saw what you gave them. Unfortunately, it does not reveal the depth of the penetration, or the intensity of reaction, and it never reveals what the acceptance would have been if what you gave them had been better -- if all the forces of art and creativity and daring and imagination had been unleashed.
Good point!
Last edited by Liege-Killer on Thu Jul 03, 08 6:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Worm
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Jul 02, 08 10:48 am |
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Joined: Thu Dec 16, 04 1:05 pm
Posts: 7019
Location: Deep Space
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I didn't read the speech, only your outtakes, but I had to check again to see what date this speech was given in. I couldn't believe it was in 1961; it sounds like it could have been given this year- it hits the mark hard on the head.
I agree that there is just too much crap on TV. You only have to go to any of the MTV stations and see that. And what's worse is my V-chip isn't even activated by the shows on those stations. I've caught my boys watching some of the most vulgar, sexually infused programs... all under the guise as a Comedy. How is it that the V-chip isn't blocking them? I make them turn it off and go watch something else.
I have to assume the rating system sux, plain and simple. I wonder what Mr. Minow would have said about today's programming? The TV in 1961 as compared to today's is like comparing a snap-n-pop to a stick of dynamite.
What I grew up watching can only be considered tame by any means. The stuff my kids watch now would have been considered... trash, in those days, with parents rising up in such an outrage, the government would have had to act swiftly, and producers and actors would have been afraid for their lives in public. Have we become so desensitized that we can't recognize crap anymore?
I am fearful for my grandkids, and what they will be exposed to as "entertainment" on TV in the next few years. I just hope their parents can recognize what is harmful and limit the amount of exposure to the crap out there.
Edit: I read some more of the speech and this stuck out:
(Speaking to broadcaster)
Quote: I admire your courage -- but that doesn't mean that I would make life any easier for you. Your license lets you use the public's airwaves as trustees for 180 million Americans. The public is your beneficiary. If you want to stay on as trustees, you must deliver a decent return to the public -- not only to your stockholders. So, as a representative of the public, your health and your product are among my chief concerns.
I couldn't have said it so well. I agree wholeheartedly. _________________ 
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Worm
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Jul 02, 08 11:23 am |
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Joined: Thu Dec 16, 04 1:05 pm
Posts: 7019
Location: Deep Space
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Wow... great speech. I encourage everyone to read it.
Quote: The best estimates indicate that during the hours of 5 to 6 P.M. sixty per cent of your audience is composed of children under twelve. And most young children today, believe it or not, spend as much time watching television as they do in the schoolroom. I repeat -- let that sink in, ladies and gentlemen -- most young children today spend as much time watching television as they do in the schoolroom. It used to be said that there were three great influences on a child: home, school, and church. Today, there is a fourth great influence, and you ladies and gentlemen in this room control it.
If parents, teachers, and ministers conducted their responsibilities by following the ratings, children would have a steady diet of ice cream, school holidays, and no Sunday school. What about your responsibilities? Is there no room on television to teach, to inform, to uplift, to stretch, to enlarge the capacities of our children? Is there no room for programs deepening their understanding of children in other lands? Is there no room for a children's news show explaining something to them about the world at their level of understanding? Is there no room for reading the great literature of the past, for teaching them the great traditions of freedom? There are some fine children's shows, but they are drowned out in the massive doses of cartoons, violence, and more violence. Must these be your trademarks? Search your consciences and see if you cannot offer more to your young beneficiaries whose future you guide so many hours each and every day. Chilling, almost as if he could see into the future. He is the TV Kwisatz Haderach.  If you don't believe me, read this: Quote: As for UHF, I'm sure you know about our test in the canyons of New York City. We will take every possible positive step to break through the allocations barrier into UHF. We will put this sleeping giant to use and in the years ahead we may have twice as many channels operating in cities where now there are only two or three. We may have a half dozen networks instead of three.
I have told you that I believe in the free enterprise system. I believe that most of television's problems stem from lack of competition. This is the importance of UHF to me: with more channels on the air, we will be able to provide every community with enough stations to offer service to all parts of the public. The nation will switch to digital UHF (DTV) signal next Feb. '09 Quote: There is your challenge to leadership. You must reexamine some fundamentals of your industry. You must open your minds and open your hearts to the limitless horizons of tomorrow. I can suggest some words that should serve to guide you:
Television and all who participate in it are jointly accountable to the American public for respect for the special needs of children, for community responsibility, for the advancement of education and culture, for the acceptability of the program materials chosen, for decency and decorum in production, and for propriety in advertising. This responsibility cannot be discharged by any given group of programs, but can be discharged only through the highest standards of respect for the American home, applied to every moment of every program presented by television.
Program materials should enlarge the horizons of the viewer, provide him with wholesome entertainment, afford helpful stimulation, and remind him of the responsibilities which the citizen has towards his society.
Now those are not my words. They are yours. They are taken literally, verbatim, from your own Television Code. They reflect the leadership and aspirations of your own great industry. I urge you to respect them as I do. Try to name five shows that follow this television code guidline. If you can, I bet most of them will come from PBS. Quote: I say to you ladies and gentlemen -- I remind you what the President said in his stirring inaugural. He said: "Ask not what America can do for you; ask what you can do for America." I say to you ladies and gentlemen: Ask not what broadcasting can do for you; ask what you can do for broadcasting. And ask what broadcasting can do for America.
I urge you, I urge you to put the people's airwaves to the service of the people and the cause of freedom. You must help prepare a generation for great decisions. You must help a great nation fulfill its future.
We need a man like him to be in charge today. _________________
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Liege-Killer
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Jul 02, 08 3:54 pm |
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| Moderator - Book Reviewer |
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Joined: Sun Jun 26, 05 12:32 am
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I'm glad you liked the article, Worm.
Yes, we certainly could use a guy like that today.
Incidentally, here's an interesting tidbit from the wikipedia article on Gilligan's Island:
Quote: A minnow is a very small bait fish, but the TV boat was actually named for Newton Minow,[1] who Gilligan's Island executive producer Sherwood Schwartz believed "ruined television". Minow was chairman of the FCC in 1961, and is noted for a speech in which he called television America's "vast wasteland".
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A Desert Creature
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Jul 03, 08 5:19 am |
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Joined: Thu Jul 28, 05 6:00 am
Posts: 668
Location: Israel
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When I turn on the TV (doesnt happen much now days) I automatically go to the section of Discovery, NGC, and the like.. most other channels I usually avoid.
I might catch a movie in one of the movie channels, or watch one of BBC Prime's shows.
its a shame our media is flooded with shallow rating obsession/scoop mongering mentality, seems like the chosen audience on the agenda is assumed not to be able to think for themselves.
_________________ http://eriswish.wordpress.com/
Eris' wish- A dose of Ambrosia
"We have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."
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Ninti
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Jul 03, 08 11:10 am |
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Joined: Fri Jul 08, 05 3:29 pm
Posts: 6652
Location: Florida
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I know.. if it wasn't for the Discovery channel, National Geographic and the Food Network, I wouldn't have anything I'm interested in watching most of the time. I can't stand to watch sitcoms anymore, they're so stupid and the laugh tracks are even more annoying than they used to be. I'm kinda burned out on lawyer/cop/forensics shows too.
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Eyes High
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Jul 07, 08 1:52 pm |
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Joined: Tue Apr 11, 06 9:06 pm
Posts: 3285
Location: In God's hand.
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All too true.
When I'm at home I either watch PBS or just pop in a movie. There is very few things I like on the networks anymore. (We don't have cable or Satellite. Even Saturday mornings no longer have anything worth watching (in my opinion) anymore.
When I'm over at my brother-in-law's, (who does have cable) I either watch TCM, court TV, discovery, Animal planter, or maybe National Geo. [when they have the old cartoons on, I'll watch the cartoon or Nickelodeon stations].
IMO, the stuff the have on is boring, silly, or repulsive. The main difference between that speech and today is that most stations no longer sign off the air. So therefore we have 24 hours of waste land viewing.
_________________ "Between the worlds of men and make believe, I can be found."
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