Vast Wasteland (On the Media)

Vast Wasteland: An Essay on the Effect of the Media on Society

Prompt:
In his famous “Vast Wasteland” address to the National Association of Broadcasters in May of 1961, Newton Minow, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, spoke about the power of television to influence the taste, knowledge, and opinions of its viewers around the world. Carefully read the following, paying close attention to how timely it is today, especially in light of the worldwide internet.

Minow ended his speech warning that “The power of instantaneous sight and sound is without precedent in mankind’s history. This is an awesome power. It has limitless capabilities for good—and for evil. And it carries with it awesome responsibilities—responsibilities which you and [the government] cannot escape....”

Using your own knowledge and your own experiences or reading, write a carefully constructed essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies Minow’s ideas.


Your house has been broken into and your most valuable possession has been stolen. This object is not a diamond, nor any other precious gem. Instead, it is your very mind! The thief? The media. Newton Minow, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, most correctly warned of this in his “Vast Wasteland” speech describing the “limitless capabilities” of television to influence taste, knowledge, and opinions. Now, with the advent of the Internet, power has also fallen to regular citizens in addition to the group of broadcasters and the government described by Minow.

Any proper kidnapping follows a series of steps. First, the media had newspapers leaking into homes, scouting out the terrain, beginning to influence public opinion. This was the time when papers heralded the Declaration of Independence, announced the end of the War of 1812 far too late to stop Jackson (proving that back then, the media did not have “limitless capabilities”), and informed people of the society of man-bats living on the moon. People of the pen became mighty: Ben Franklin and Thomas Paine are good examples of such masters. The media’s rise to power, as described by Minow, had begun.

Then, the radio was born, and from its humble abode of a shadowy corner in every house in America, began probing into the minds of the people. And oh, the humanity! Some people took this power and twisted it into chaos, heralding invaders from Mars. This broadcaster obviously did not care for the “awesome responsibilities” Minow spoke of; Roosevelt, with his “Fireside chats”, did, thus proving the Chairman’s assertion that the media had “capabilities for good—and for evil”.

Close on radio’s heels came the beloved television, quickly becoming the axle in the wheel of American society. Presidents recognized its power potential and sought to harness it, John F. Kennedy using it as his weapon of choice to counter Nixon’s now-outdated radio. Sometimes these attempts at media control were successful, as with Ronald Reagan’s mastery of the medium; sometimes... not quite so much. (Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, what did I tell you about fooling with Tehran?) By now, the “awesome responsibilities” of media had grown into “responsibilities which you cannot escape”. The media had trapped itself!

Now, the ultimate vagabond, the high kidnapper, the king of thieves rises like a mummy in a bad horror movie. (Ah! They are taking over my mind!) The Internet. This sneakiest of snakes slithers silently into the serene household, stationing itself at the hands of every sentient simian, seizing the cerebral structure as soon as it sees some small space to do so. (Translation: almost everyone has access to it, and anyone can post their media-influenced ideas, thereby further spreading its influence.) The Web’s children YouTube (where presidents debate and have love songs addressed to them) and Wikipedia (where anything can be lied about and journalists are conspired against), also known as Phobos and Deimos, have reached every person in the country and many around the world! The grandest heist in history! “Limitless capabilities for good—and for evil!”

Newton Minow was impeccably accurate in assessing the power and capabilities of the media. This assertion has only become more concrete with time and the invention of the Internet. If they haven’t gotten you yet, watch your back, because they’re coming!