“This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and even it can inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise, it’s nothing but wires and lights in a box.”

Edward R. Murrow
October 15, 1958

When television screens were smaller, and the pictures were still black and white, pioneering American broadcaster Edward R. Murrow said that television had the power to teach…to illuminate…to even inspire.

Or, he said, it could be merely “lights and wires in a box.”

Murrow made that observation about the potential of television when that medium was still in its infancy. It was a different time, indeed…and decades before things like home computers, cellphones, and the Internet would even be invented.

But even then, Murrow recognized that this shiny, brand new communications medium of his day held out such power and promise…as well as responsibility. If abused, it could miss its mark…and lose its legitimacy altogether.

Murrow was speaking that night to his fellow broadcasters — its producers, directors, writers, journalists, and management — i.e. the creators and “gatekeepers” of television. He knew it was they who would determine, collectively, which path television would take…whether it would ever ultimately reach its potential. He spoke of the responsibility of those creators to use that power constructively and responsibly.

Murrow could never have imagined at that seminal moment in the history of communications media all of the technological advances, and the cultural consequences of those advances, that would take place over these ensuing decades, including the development and then global proliferation of the Internet and social media, in particular. But his message then remains just as powerful and relevant for our realities today as it was for his own.

Since very early-on in my own career, as one of those creators working within today’s communications media space, I continue to be profoundly influenced by Murrow’s words, and by the challenge he held out to make what we do worthy.

And so, as an educational media producer and publisher, we here at Commonwealth take pride in the fact that what we do is leaving a positive imprint.To that end, our mission will continue to include Murrow’s important words and his call-to-action — to use the power and the tools of our communications media responsibly and creatively to teach, and to illuminate, and to even inspire. I welcome the opportunity to begin a conversation with you about new and fresh ways to continue to do just that, together. Call me.

Peter M. McCann
President
Commonwealth Media Corporation, Inc.
Boston