Actor and activist Tim Robbins was the keynote speaker at the National Association of Broadcasters conference in Vegas this week. But if the NAB had gotten their way, none of us would have heard his speech. (Ironic, eh?) From Advertising Age:
Funny thing is, they forgot to tell the reporters to turn their audio recorders off. Robbins reversed course and gave his speech. And the last six minutes are a doozy.
Here are some snippets. (Rushed Transcript)
You, the broadcasters of this great nation has a tremendous amount of power, and a tremendous amount of potential to effect change… You can lift us up into a more enlightened age. Or you can hide behind that old adage, ‘I’m just a businessman. I provide what the audience wants.’ Well, I’m here to tell you that we don’t need to look at the car crash. We don’t need to live off the pain and humiliation of the unfortunate. We don’t need to celebrate our pornographic obsession with celebrity culture. We are better than that. (Claps from audience.)
Some of you are trying… But I know you do so against the odds of ratings and job security. It is really up to the leaders in this room. It us up to you, the zions of this industry to leave behind formulas and focus groups and your own fears of job security. Only with your courage and your vision can we begin to imagine a world of broadcasting where the broad consensus of those with real power say, ‘Enough is Enough.’
You should really listen to the whole six minutes. He’s using soft language (as in non-political), but really drives home the point of how the broadcasting industry can inform and lead this country to a better place, if they only had the courage. Of course they don’t and they won’t, but it’s still a pretty cool speech.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.