It may be the most famous speech in history on the place, the role, of television.  It is the famous “vast wasteland” speech.

I was re-reading it this past week, and was reminded that buried in it is a pretty clear call to set creative people free.  Always a pretty worthy goal, don’t you think?

Here’s the key paragraph:

We need imagination in programming, not sterility; creativity, not imitation; experimentation, not conformity; excellence, not mediocrity.  Television is filled with creative, imaginative, people.  You must strive to set them free.
Newton N. Minow, Television and the Public Interest, delivered to the National Association of Broadcasters, May 9, 1961 (former Chair, Federal Communications Commission, appointed in 1961 by President Kennedy).

Read the full speech here at the great AmericanRhetoric.com site.  It is worth reading! (or re-reading).