Whatever Happened to Local News?: The “Vast Wasteland” Reconsidered

Though the speech and phrase were then only six years old, I remember first reading Newton Minow's already classic remarks while taking Telford Taylor's class on communication law at Yale Law School in 1967. Along with several of his other major addresses, it had been published three years earlier in a volume called Equal Time: The Private Broadcasters and the Public Interest. (1) From that day forward, I, like so many other students of communication law, have been influenced deeply by Minow's concept of the responsibility of broadcasters and of the role of the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") and the public interest. When the speech was delivered in 1961, and for the next fifteen years or so, most Americans assumed that the essential rules of the broadcasting industry were fixed in stone. The only truly effective means of transmission in those years were radio and television. While there were weak stations on the hard-to-receive UHF band, the only truly competitive signals were those on VHF. Cable, as it began to develop, was designed only to deliver television to viewers in areas that broadcast signals could not reach easily. Most markets could only accommodate three or four VHF stations, one of which generally was reserved for what was then known as educational television. The Lord, technology, and the FCC, it seemed, had conspired to decree that there could only be three major commercial television networks. To his great credit, Chairman Minow, unlike many of his contemporaries, foresaw the potential impact of technology. He anticipated the advent of pay TV (which today might be roughly translated as HBO or Showtime), of improved and increased UHF, and of satellites. He also predicted that the day would come when there would be twice as many channels, twice as many networks, and "enough stations to offer service to all parts of the public." (2) Yet he could not predict other advances, such as cable, digital television signals, DIRECTV, broadband, the Internet, and even devices such as VCR machines and TiVo--all of which, combined, have created far more diversity--and a much, much vaster landscape than he could ever have imagined. In some respects, the choices available to viewers today are far richer than those in the early days of JFK's New Frontier. There are many more hours of public-service programming thanks to outlets such as C-SPAN, Discovery Channel, The History Channel, and the all-news networks. Programming on HBO (even if it is not TV) is remarkably inventive and there are those who argue as Charles McGrath did a few years back in the New York Times Magazine that, for television drama, thanks to such shows as NYPD Blue, ER, and Law & Order, we are in a "golden age" of television. (3) While there are many who believe that the quality of children's programming on commercial television remains disgraceful (and arguably in violation of the Children's Television Act of 1990 (4)), there are now a number of superb children's programs on public television and on cable. But there are areas where the landscape is, in important respects, worse than ever. One of the most disturbing trends is the decline and even absence in many communities of serious local news and public affairs. In his speech, Chairman Minow noted the importance of local programming as well as the risk that it would decline or disappear. He pointed out to the assembled broadcasters, "[e]very one of you serves an area which has local needs--as to local elections, controversial issues, local news, local talent," (5) but he remained deeply concerned with concentration of power in the hands of the networks. As a result, too many local stations have foregone any efforts at local programming, with little use of live talent and local service. Too many local stations operate with one hand on the network switch and the other on a projector loaded with old movies. We want the individual stations to be free to meet their legal responsibilities to serve their communities. …