A Diversity of Voices in a "Vast Wasteland"

I believe Newton N. Minow had a crystal ball. In 1961, in his first speech as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC"), he challenged members of the National Association of Broadcasters to: [S]it down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there without a book, magazine, newspaper, profit-and-loss sheet or rating book to distract you--and keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland. (1) Imagine if Minow sat in his living room today, remote control in hand, with a cable or satellite signal being fed into his television set. He would find his "vast wasteland" more of an understatement than the prophecy it seemed to be. Minow spoke of a "procession of game shows, violence, audience participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, Western badmen, Western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence and cartoons. And, endlessly, commercials--many screaming, cajoling and offending." (2) Did he know there would be a television channel devoted to game shows? Could he see Jerry Springer, Maury Povich, and Jenny Jones in television's future? Was he anticipating "Must See TV" where Friends replaced families, where children would rule the roost? Was he predicting the degree of crime and violence that would enter the family home not only during prime time, but also during the evening news? "Vast wasteland"? An understatement indeed. And yet, television also provides programming that is educational and entertaining. Consider the children's programming on PBS, or programs such as Nova and The American Experience. Oprah thrives in syndication and is educational and entertaining. Television offers viewers The History Channel, the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and valuable programming on the Food Network and Home & Garden Television. Programming from these sources serves a purpose and provides valuable information to the viewer. For all that is wrong with television in the twenty-first century, much is right. Minow suggested television breeds boredom. If that were the case, why do cable and satellite beam hundreds of channels into American homes? These hundreds of channels also bring hundreds of choices for viewers. These hundreds of channels bring a diversity of voices to the cacophony of ideas for viewers to consider. Diversity in television is a good thing. There was a time when news and information was broadcast into my home only between 6:00 and 7:00 P.M. At 6:00 P.M. there was a half-hour of local news. One half-hour later, a network news anchor summarized the so-called news of the day. That was the extent of information broadcast into my home. The last decades of the twentieth century brought the 24-hour news cycle with CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, and the FOX News Channel, among other news and information providers ready with information on my schedule, not theirs. Where before, the evening news was limited to only twenty-two minutes, now the news consumer can receive as much or as little news and information as he or she wants. The diversity of voices that exists today in television also reflects the diversity of the American experience. Would Newton Minow have found fault with Roots, the 1977 landmark television miniseries loosely based on Alex Haley's autobiography of the same name? …