Foxboro Cable Access pauses today to reflect on George Stoney’s life, all those who value community television are indebted to George for his many contributions.

via the Alliance for Community Media
(McLean, VA, July 13, 2012) – 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.

Each year, ACM presents “The George Stoney – Dirk Koning Award” to an organization or individual who has made an outstanding contribution to championing the growth and experience of humanistic community communications.

About the Alliance for Community Media: Founded in 1979, the Alliance for Community Media is a national, non-profit membership organization committed to ensuring access to electronic media for all people. The Alliance for Community Media carries forth its mission by educating, advocating and acting as a resource for the more than 3,000 Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) cable channels nationwide. For more information, visit ACM’s new website at www.allcommunitymedia.org.