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Newton N. Minow

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Newton Norman Minow (born January 17, 1926) is an American attorney and former government official best known for his "Vast Wasteland" speech, given to the National Association of Broadcasters convention on May 9, 1961. The speech was extremely critical of television broadcasters for not doing more, in Minow's view, to serve the public interest. At the time Minow was chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, after his appointment by John F. Kennedy. Minow has also been active in Democratic party politics and is an influential attorney in private practice concerning telecommunications law.

Life and career

Minow served in World War II as a U.S. Army sergeant in the China-Burma theater. After graduating from Northwestern University Law School, Minow became a law clerk to Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson of the U.S. Supreme Court and then assistant counsel to Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson.

He was also chairman of Public Broadcasting Service and its predecessor, National Educational Television. He is a recent past-president of the Carnegie Foundation, an influential PBS sponsor, along with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He has been chairman of the RAND corporation and a trustee of the Mayo Clinic. He is a life trustee of Northwestern University and the University of Notre Dame. He co-chaired the 1976 and 1980 presidential debates and is a director of the Commission on Presidential Debates. He has been on numerous presidential commissions and is chairman of a special advisory committee to the Secretary of Defense on protecting civil liberties in the fight against terrorism.

He is the Walter Annenberg professor emeritus at Northwestern University, as well as the author of four books and numerous professional journal and magazine articles, and the recipient of 12 honorary degrees. His wife, Josephine Baskin Minow, serves on the boards of many community organizations, including the Chicago Historical Society. He has three daughters, all lawyers: Nell Minow, shareholder activist and movie critic; Martha L. Minow, Harvard law professor; and Mary Minow, a library law expert.

Criticism and evaluation

Minow became one of the most controversial political figures of the early 1960s for his scathing criticism of commercial television. His appointment to the FCC was itself something of a surprise, because he had little experience at the time in telecommunications. He did enjoy a close personal relationship with Robert Kennedy, which was seen as crucial to his appointment.

While some applauded his "vast wasteland" assault on commercial television as a welcome criticism of excessive violence and frivolity on the small screen, others condemned or ridiculed it as an elitist, snobbish attack on programming that many viewers enjoyed. In a telling bit of sarcasm, the S.S. Minnow of the 1964–1967 television show Gilligan's Island was named for him to express displeasure with his assessment of the quality of television.

Minow did foster two significant initiatives that altered the landscape of American television. The first was the All-Channel Receiver Act (1962) which mandated UHF reception capability for all television sets sold in the U.S. This legislation sparked an increase in the number of television stations and helped the ABC network achieve completely national coverage. He also promoted what ultimately became the International Telecommunication Satellite Consortium (Intelsat). This organization controlled satellite communications for many years.

Books

  • Abandoned in the Wasteland: Children, Television, and the First Amendment (ISBN 0809015897)
  • Presidential Television (ISBN 0465062741)
  • For Great Debates: A New Plan for Future Presidential TV Debates (ISBN 0870782126)
  • A Digital Gift for the Nation (with Larry Grossman) (ISBN 0870784668)
  • Equal Time: The Private Broadcaster and the Public Interest (AISN B0007DZB86)

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