Newton Minow's Speech 'Vast Wasteland'

Chairman of the Federal Communications Committee Newton Minow gave his speech “Vast Wasteland” that drives the point of discussion with an insistent fervor, accentuating the need for the people to guide the direction of television programming to support the business, allowing it to not only survive, but strive. This claim is buttressed by initially establishing his credibility to help express his desire to protect the public, while also working to persuade the audience by sprouting claims that would be seen as truth; Minow also goes on to persuade the audience to formulate their own opinions by use of question-like statements to veer them in the proper direction, then appealing to the audience’s emotions directly with paradigms that would create an array of notions to gain more support from his audience; he then uses strong language to highlight the importance of the situation at hand, using these words to help him achieve a sense of reason with the audience. Minow’s intention of the speech was to open the eyes of the audience to finally see that television business was truly a “vast wasteland” and that it was not
truly and rightfully made television history. The phrase itself, “vast wasteland,” stood out, creating an impact on the thinking of the people, which influenced the reform of television. Even though it has been approximately 56 years since the issuance of the speech, noteworthy news sources including Time and History.com had created articles that praised Minow and his speech, as well as the effect it had on the industry, who according to time: "took the speech as a deliberate tactic to scare stations and networks into better programing, and as a hint that they should do something about it soon." This shows the true effect “vast wasteland” had on show business and how the television industry got to where it is