Newton Minow was a sober voice in addressing concerns over television broadcasting in the 1960s. He was chairman of the Federal Communications Commission under President Kennedy and his famous "Television is a Vast Wasteland" Speech in 1961 sparked debate over the content and commercials that were being thrust on the American public.
In this interview, he continues his argument for using television for the public good, offering ideas from his 1964 book Equal Time: The Private Broadcaster and the Public Interest. Minow provides some history of radio and television and how the public airwaves came to be dominated by corporate interests. Studs Terkel brings up the issue of censorship when it comes to the government determining the programming, but Minow feels that the public isn't really given a choice when almost all of the programming is commercially backed. He also argues for free airtime for political candidates as opposed to the endless campaign ads bombarding the public. Sixty years after this interview, the debate over television for the public good has nearly vanished. One wonders what Minow would make of today's Internet and YouTube.