ANNOUNCEMENT
Al Harris Named Chairman of the QPCC Board of Directors
Queens Public Communications Corp. (QPCC), known as QPTV, announced on June 8 that Alfred (Al) Harris has been elected Chairman of the QPCC Board of Directors, succeeding John B. Haney, PhD. A retired public relations manager after 40 years with Con Edison — including 20 years representing the company in Queens — Harris also brings service as past chairman of the Flushing YMCA Board of Managers and past president of the Rotary Club of Flushing.
QPTV is an award-winning world-class community media center and the community media core of Queens.
What is QPTV?
QPTV has a long standing history of serving the community. In 1982 QPTV made its entrance on the national stage of community television. Since our inception we have trained thousands of residents and cablecast over 90,000 programs. QPTV continues to be a leader in community television in New York. For over 30 years QPTV has advocated and supported media “of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Queens, New York is the most diverse community in the world. Over two hundred languages and dialects are spoken here. Every race, creed, culture, religion, and political point of view can be found, not only in this community, but also on our four channels. QPTV is democracy in action: we are committed to assisting everyone in this community to exercise their First Amendment right to free expression.
QPTV has become the destination for journalists visiting from abroad, especially from those countries that are in a struggle for liberation. The International Visitor Leadership Program is an extension of the U.S. Department of State. Journalists from Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, Libya, and Francophone Africa have visited our facilities over the past year. The journalists, as can be discerned from the list, are from countries deeply involved with the struggle for liberation. They are keenly interested in establishing a center for community media in their respective countries; a media free from government control and censorship. QPTV has become a model for journalists freeing themselves from oppressive governments.
We are proud of our award winning series: Queens Update: A Live Town Hall Meeting which has earned recognition for the programs Bullying in America and Gay in America. QPTV’s latest original series, Understanding Mental Illness, has been honored with two first place awards from the Alliance for Community Media’s Northeast Region Video Festival for the episodes “What is Mental Illness?” and “Community Based Treatment.” We’ve also covered other hard hitting and controversial issues like building a mosque near Ground Zero, the disturbing reality of illegal gun violence, and the death penalty.
Community Television offers an opportunity for every individual and not-for-profit organization to participate in community media, free from censorship, which is guaranteed and protected by our First Amendment.