Presenting the Past, Episode 4: Broadcasting in the Public Interest
Image: black-and-white photo of a television control room with banks of monitors. The overlay reads: “Presenting the Past: Exploring the American Archive of Public Broadcasting.” Credits: the AAPB, Library of Congress, GBH, and Aca-Media.
This series features informed conversations with scholars, educators, industry professionals, researchers, archivists, and others about significant events, issues, and topics documented in the more than 70 years of programming available in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting collection.
FOR MORE ON THIS SERIES, CLICK HERE.
EPISODE 4: BROADCASTING IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST
Image: Black-and-white photo of a smiling Newton Minow taking off his glasses, autographed by Minow.
The collaboration between Aca-Media and the American Archive of Public Broadcasting continues with episode 4 of our special series “Presenting the Past: Exploring the American Archive of Public Broadcasting.”
This episode of “Presenting the Past” features Newton Minow, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under President John F. Kennedy from 1961 until 1963. Minow would become a key figure in the establishment of public broadcasting in the U.S., and in this conversation, he reflects on his early vision for public service television.
Highlighted in this program are clips from the AAPB collection, including Minow’s famed “vast wasteland” speech to the National Association of Broadcasters in 1961, his lesser known address to the same organization the following year, as well as a panel discussion with former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt on the role of television in society.
Joining the discussion is Mr. Minow’s daughter, Mary Minow, Presidential Appointee to the National Museum and Library Services Board at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University and current member of the AAPB Executive Advisory Council.