QPTV Wins Overall Excellence in Public Access from the 2015 Hometown Media Awards

QPTV is proud to announce it has received top honors from the 2015 Alliance for Community Media National Hometown Competition Overall Excellence in Public Access Category This is QPTV’s second time winning Overall Excellence in Public Access for the Hometown competition, having previously won in 2013. The 2015 Hometown Media Awards will be held on Thursday, August 13, 2015 at the Hilton Pasadena in Pasadena, California, during the Alliance for Community Media (ACM) Annual Conference. Overall Excellence in Public Access entries are submitted to the ACM by various access organizations, cable companies, educational institutions, local government, or other institutions that provide Public, Educational, or Governmental (P.E.G.) access services throughout the United States. As an access center, QPTV submitted a compilation of programs that reflect the diversity in the borough of Queens. The video clips that corresponded to the Overall Excellence reel illustrated how QPTV Programming addressed our community’s needs. QPTV: Over 33 Years of Excellence In 1982, Queens Public Television made its entrance on the stage of community television. Since that time we have trained thousands of residents and cablecast over 100,000 programs.  QPTV has established itself as the media hub of Queens and the venue for the voice of the people. Our training programs, taught by media professionals, rival media classes that are taught on college campuses. QPTV’s hands-on approach to training has become a sought after experience. QPTV continues to train residents in the Borough of Queens how to produce and direct their own television programs. Queens, New York is the most diverse community in the world where over two hundred languages and dialects are spoken. Virtually every culture, religion, political point of view or opinion can be found not only in this community but also on our four channels. QPTV is democracy in action and we are committed to assisting everyone in this community to exercise their First Amendment right to free expression. Although we only represent the “P” in P.E.G. Access, in 1992 we helped to launch CROSSWALKS, now known as NYCTV, the government access channels of New York City. In that same year we presented live-coverage of the Democratic National Convention, proving once again that community television is a viable alternative to mainstream commercial media. As a Community Access Center we are very supportive of our community producers. The multitude of events that take place in our community are far too extensive for our volunteer producers to cover. Realizing this, QPTV has never hesitated to venture into the community to bring these complex programs and events to our viewers. The Overall Excellence compilation reel, viewable at www.QPTV.org, represents a sampling of the many programs produced by QPTV in 2014. We are especially proud of the International Visitor Leadership Program. Since 2011, QPTV has been hosting visiting journalists under the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Journalists from Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, South Korea, Syria and Francophone Africa have visited our facilities. The foreign media professionals visiting QPTV are interested in citizen journalism and seek to establish community media in their country of origin. With each visit of journalists from foreign nations we are constantly reminded of the importance and need for independent media, especially in those countries where citizens are struggling against oppressive regimes. In 2014 alone, 15 journalists and 14 blogger/journalists were murdered. There is no greater threat to oppression, perhaps, than a free and unfettered press. QPTV is proud to be a model for citizen journalists around the world. Community television offers the opportunity for every individual to participate in the highest form of free expression that is protected by our First Amendment. QPTV is an electronic bridge between diverse communities. Public access television is not just a local reality: From Australia to Brazil and from Sweden to South Korea, community television is a global reality and QPTV is proud to have been a part of that reality for over 30 years.