Newton N. Minow

“The public interest is our guide.”

“We need imagination in broadcasting, not imitation.”

“Broadcasting is a public trust, and broadcasters are public trustees.”

“The new media are not just toys. They affect the way we think, the way we learn, the way we govern.”

“I am in Washington to help broadcasting, not to harm it; to strengthen it, not to weaken it; to reward it, not to punish it.”

“What will the historians of the future say about our television programming? Will they say that we abetted the debasement of our currency, our morality, our cultural and educational standards?”

“I did not say that television is a vast wasteland. I said that if you sit and watch it all day, it will be a vast wasteland.”

“Television can be the most powerful force for good or for evil.”

“I don't want 'vast wasteland' to be my epitaph.”

“I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland.”

“When television is good, nothing—not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers—nothing is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse.”