Editor's note.

Welcome to the third issue of Volume 55 of the Federal Communications Law Journal. Volume 55 marks the tenth anniversary of the co-publishing arrangement between the Federal Communications Bar Association and the Indiana University School of Law--Bloomington. This partnership has been a privilege for the Law School and the cornerstone of our communications law program. On behalf of the ten editorial boards which have managed the day-to-day operations of the Journal, we are grateful to the Association, its Editorial Advisory Board, and to each of its members and Journal readers for this remarkable opportunity.

We celebrated the tenth anniversary within the Law School with a speaker series on "The Intersection of Communications and the Law." The series featured an array of practitioners, academics, and Law School and Journal alumni; it provided not only an appropriate way to highlight the occasion within the Law School community, but also a thought-provoking overview of a variety of current communications issues.

In this issue we are proud to extend the celebration of our tenth anniversary to the members of the Association and our other readers. To mark the occasion, the Editorial Board, at the suggestion of the Editorial Advisory Board, decided to revisit former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Newton N. Minow's 1961 "Vast Wasteland" speech. We include the original speech to the National Association of Broadcasters, together with a wide-ranging interview with Faculty Advisor Fred H. Cate in which Minow re-examines his famous speech, assesses the video marketplace of today, and reflects on his extraordinary career.

Our tenth anniversary coincides with the fortieth anniversary of the end of Minow's term as FCC Chairman in 1963, and we are delighted to honor his continuing career of distinguished public and professional service with this issue.

We also invited a diverse array of leading communications attorneys, government officials, producers, entertainers, commentators, and public interest advocates to reflect on the speech and to take up the challenge that Minow posed to the NAB over forty years ago: "I invite you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there without a book, magazine, newspaper, profit-and-loss sheet or rating book to distract you--and keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off." In 1961, Minow said, "I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland."

We asked each author to accept the same challenge in the much broader context of the video marketplace of today: "If you watched an entire day of video programming--from whatever source--would you find that the public interest is any better served or has the 'vast wasteland' simply grown more vast?" We encouraged the contributors to be as creative as possible in fifteen or fewer pages, and we did as little editing of content as possible in order to preserve each author's original voice. No contributor to this issue has seen the work of any other, until publication.

The Journal is grateful to each of these contributors for their imaginative, often provocative contributions. As a generation raised in "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood," we were especially delighted when Fred Rogers agreed to participate. Like the rest of the nation, the entire Journal staff was saddened by his untimely death. We are proud to contribute to continuing his legacy by including his essay and by dedicating this issue to his memory.

Professor Herbert A. Terry's review of the second edition of The Public Television Legal Survival Guide, published by the Association of Public Television Stations, completes this issue. Professor Terry teaches in Indiana University's nationally ranked Telecommunications Department. We believe that the connection to Indiana University and the subject of public television make this a fitting conclusion to this issue.

The Editorial Board is grateful to all of our contributors; we are honored to be able to publish each in the issue. As this is the end of Volume 55, it is also an appropriate time for me to thank my staff. Every member of the Editorial Board has gone above and beyond their duties to ensure the success of the Journal. The entire staff provided invaluable support. I am grateful to all of them. I would also like to thank our faculty advisor, Fred Cate, for all of his help and support through out the year.

Finally, I would like to thank the FCBA and each of its members. Ten years is a long time--certainly longer than most relationships last. One key to the success of this co-publishing arrangement is the consistent support the Association and its members give the Journal. During my term as Editor-in-Chief, this has been reflected in many ways, but especially in the honest and essential advice shared by the co-chairs of the Editorial Advisory Board--James Casserly, Linda Smith, and Jamison Prime; by the time and assistance generously given to students writing notes by FCBA mentors; and by the comments and suggestions we receive from readers. On behalf of the Editorial Board not only of Volume 55, but of the prior nine years' volumes as well, I express our appreciation to each of you.

Deborah J. Salons

Editor-in-Chief

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