"On this day in 1926, NBC made its broadcasting debut," tweets NBC.

That is quite a feat.

You have probably heard the adage "the media are not the story," but this is an integral part of the American story. It is not out of order to reflect on the positives and negatives that have come out of broadcast media. Now that NBC has attained the 100-year threshold, we may think about the impact that span of broadcasting time has brought upon society as a whole, not to mention the various components that have shot forth from the network, such as television, sports, movies, Universal Studios, and continuing.

It would take more than a few minutes to explore just how far-reaching an impact it is. Too many hear a letter-salad network and immediately have partisan thoughts. Unfortunately, that is not always unwarranted. It should not be that way. We must remember that our major networks carry a lot of history. They have covered some of our most triumphant moments, periods of deep sadness, and times of extreme controversy. It is so simple for us to dial a channel and receive news today. A time is coming when that may become even simpler. Relatively few people around now would have the ability to remember the 1926 debut, the first broadcasts, and how the advent of broadcasting affected society.