George Stoney, the Father of Public Access TV, Passes Away

From our friends at the Alliance for Community Media:

"The Alliance for Community Media (ACM) is saddened at the recent passing of George Stoney, a visionary and founder of the community media movement. George’s list of contributions to both public access and to the entire media industry is long and exceptional.

“George has been a wonderful mentor and role model to several generations of journalists, filmmakers, and free speech advocates,” said ACM Executive Director Sylvia Strobel.  “His loss will be keenly felt by many in the media industry. We express our deepest sympathies to George’s family and friends.”

Stoney, who was 96, was a free-lance writer, documentary filmmaker and advocate of participatory media – often being cited as the Father of Public Access Television.  Stoney served on the Board of Directors for the Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) and the Alliance for Community Media (ACM), and continued to team-teach a course at NYU Tisch School of the Arts."

George was a long-time friend of the NAMAC staff.  His presence in our community will be sorely missed.

Watch Filmmaker Interview: George Stoney (2012) on PBS. See more from POV.