"KEEP YOUR EYES GLUED TO TV & YOU WILL OBSERVE A VAST WASTELAND"

JFK DODGES QUESTION ON TV NETWORK PROGRAMMING

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On July 23, 1962, President John F. Kennedy's news conference was transmitted live to Europe via Telstar.  During the conference, JFK was asked the following question...

"Mr. President, now that the US image is being transmitted instantaneously overseas by Telstar, do you think the (TV) networks should do something about the vast wasteland?"

Vast wasteland was a term coined by Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton Minow* who gave a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961 in which he said...

"When television is good... nothing is better (but) when television is bad, nothing is worse.  I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there for a day without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you.  Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off.  I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland."

President Kennedy, not wanting to be critical of the television networks, laughed and said...

"I'm going to leave Mr. Minow to argue the wasteland issue, I think."

*Newton Minow was born in Milwaukee, WI in 1926.  He is a graduate of Northwestern University and the Northwestern University School of Law.  NM served in the US Army in WWII & is an attorney in private practice specializing in telecommunications law.  NM was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama & received the Peabody Award.

Newton Minow

FCC Chairman

"WHEN TV IS GOOD, NOTHING IS BETTER, WHEN TV IS BAD, NOTHING IS WORSE"

JFK NEWS CONFERENCE BEAMED TO EUROPE VIA TELSTAR

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On July 23, 1962, history was made when President John F. Kennedy's news conference was transmitted live to Europe via Telstar.

During the conference, JFK was asked...

"Mr. President, now that the US image is being transmitted instantaneously overseas by Telstar, do you think the (TV) networks should do something about the vast wasteland*?"

President Kennedy, obviously not wanting to be critical of the networks, laughed and responded to the question...

"I'm going to leave Mr. Minow to argue the wasteland issue, I think."

*Vast wasteland was a term coined by Newton Minow^ who gave a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961.  He said...

"When television is good... nothing is better (but) when television is bad, nothing is worse.  Keep your eyes glued to that (tv) set until the station signs off.  I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland."

^Newton Minow was born in Milwaukee, WI in 1926.  He is a graduate of Northwestern University and the Northwestern University School of Law.   NM was chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in 1961. Today NM is 93 years old.

Newton Minow

FCC Chairman

JACKIE, PEOPLE WILL REMEMBER YOUR DIGNITY

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2190

REFLECTIONS ON "JACKIE": PART XV

Knoxville, Tennessee (JFK+50) JFK+50 begins the year 2017 with a review of "Jackie" starring Natalie Portman.  "Jackie" is a Fox Searchlight Pictures film directed by Pablo Larrain.

The screenplay was written by Noah Oppenheim.  Released on December 2, 2016, the movie has an "R" rating and lasts 1 hour and 40 minutes.

The Journalist and Jackie continue their conversation in the kitchen of the Kennedy compound in Hyannis.

The Journalist says...

"You left your mark on this country...these last few days.  Losing a President is like losing a father and you were a mother to all of us.  And that's a very good story."

The Journalist goes on...

"The entire country watched the funeral from beginning to end.  Decades from now people will remember your dignity and...they'll remember you!"

JFK+50 COMMENTARY

Although this is a very short excerpt from the movie script, it is a most important one and one that is so very true.  Speaking from personal experience, we did not take our eyes off the television coverage from the afternoon of November 22 through November 25, 1963.  That short period of time, which seemed like an eternity back then, has been called "Four Dark Days."

Harold D. Wallace, Jr. reminds us that the assassinations of our first three presidents were covered by telegraph and newspapers.  Although there were some attempts, no presidential assassinations occurred during the "Age of Radio," and television in the 1930s, 40s & 50s had never covered a major breaking news story "non-stop."

Nevertheless, many Americans first learned of the shooting of JFK on the radio...at work or at school.  As I have described before, I was in high school when the principal came on the intercom and tuned into radio coverage so we could all hear. Then we went home and turned on the TV.

David Bianculli says...

"It was THE most important moment of television history...more than anything (before or since)."

In the days before cable television, the 3 major networks of the day, ABC-CBS-NBC, "stayed on the story for all four days."  

To understand the impact of the assassination and funeral coverage, we must remember that 93% of all American homes in November 1963 had television sets and, unlike today, most had access to a very small number of channels and all channels were broadcasting coverage of the event.

Also, we think of the 1960s in black and white.  Only 5% of American tv sets were capable of receiving color signals.  If you had a color set, it is unlikely you would have seen much of the assassination coverage in color because black & white cameras were primarily used.

But thanks to communications satellite, it was not just an American experience.  NBC-TV, in charge of the relay signal, broadcast television coverage to 23 countries around the world.  A 5 minute report was also relayed to the Soviet Union via Telstar.

The networks paid a high price for their trouble.  Costs ran more than $40 million with an additional $22 million in lost advertising revenue.  And TV ratings were off the charts:  NBC at 24, CBS at 16, and ABC at 10.

Thomas Doherty writes...

"The medium...served as a national lifeline."

SOURCES

"Assassination and Funeral of President John F. Kennedy," by Thomas Doherty, www.museum.tv/eotv/kennedyjf.htm

"How Live TV Helped America Mourn the Loss of JFK," by David Bianculli, November 22, 2013, NPR, www.npr.org

"Jackie-Screenplay," by Script Pipeline, www.scriptpipeline.com/

"The technology that carried news of President Kennedy's assassination," by Harold D. Wallace, Jr., November 21, 2013, O Say Can You See:  Stories from the National Museum of American History," www.americanhistory.si.edu/

A Nation Mourns Panel

The Newseum

Washington, D.C.

Photo by John White (2016)

TELEVISION, A VAST WASTELAND

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 2018

JFK EVADES QUESTION ON QUALITY OF TV PROGRAMMING 

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Historians say Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first "radio president."  His superb speaking voice and use of it in his frequent "fireside chats" support that argument.  Historians also say that John F. Kennedy was the first "television president."  JFK's charisma was evident in the presidential debates as well as his frequent nationally televised news conferences.

On July 23, 1962, President Kennedy made television history when his news conference that day was transmitted live to Europe via the Telstar satellite.  A reporter brought that up at the conference while putting in a "dig" against the communications medium.  

He asked...

"Mr. President, now that the US image is being transmitted instantaneously overseas by Telstar, do you think the (TV) networks should do something about the vast wasteland?"

President Kennedy deftly dodged the question by responding...

"I'm going to leave Mr. Minow to argue the wasteland issue, I think."

The "vast wasteland" was a term coined by Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton Minow* who gave his first speech as chairman to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961.  

Mr. Minow said...

"When television is good... nothing is better (but) when television is bad, nothing is worse.  I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television (and)...keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off.  I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland."

The FCC chairman also said that broadcasting was "a most honorable profession" and that TV was "the most powerful voice in America."  He added, however, that "history will decide whether today's broadcasters employed their powerful voice to enrich the people or debase them."

*Newton Minow was born in Milwaukee, WI in 1926.  He is a graduate of Northwestern University and the Northwestern University School of Law.
NM is Honorary Consul General of Singapore in Chicago.

SOURCE

"Newton N. Minow, Television and the Public Interest," May 1961, American Rhetoric, Top 100 Speeches, www.americanrhetoric.com/

Family Watching Television in 1958

Photo by Evert F. Baumgardner

NARA Image