The Waste Land, by Newton Minow
Paul Cantor has an interesting article at mises.org about Newton Minow, the JFK-era chairman of the Federal Communications Commission who is best known for (a) describing television as a "vast wasteland" and (b) inspiring the name of the boat in Gilligan's Island. Cantor argues that Minow's efforts to improve TV actually made the medium blander and more risk-averse, and that the regulator's critique of television was ultimately more political than aesthetic.
