Leon C. Collins is a media executive, media educator, producer/director, script writer, and photographic artist. Collins is recognized as one of the first prominent African-American public television management pioneers in the United States.
Leon C. Collins is a media executive, media educator, producer/director, script writer, and photographic artist. Collins is recognized as one of the first prominent African-American public television management pioneers in the United States.
Leon Collins was born in Washington, DC, on May 20, 1949. He received his Master of Arts degree from Antioch College in 1976. His Masters thesis was entitled “Black perspectives – Inner reality of visual thinking”. The research problem contained in the thesis examined imagery as cognition (a strategy for acquiring awareness and understanding of the phenomena of reality) and media as an educational instrument.
As part of the television generation, Leon was intrigued by the potential power and influence of film and television, with the perception and long range vision of a black owned, black-run TV station. In 1969, Collins was selected to become an intern at WETA-TV PBS in Washington, DC, during his junior year at Howard University, majoring in cinematography and television production. Leon, eventually became president of the National Association of Blacks in Public Broadcasting while working at the University of Houston.
For over three decades, Collins has held a variety of leadership and consulting positions, domestically and internationally with non governmental organizations, public broadcasting, and commercial broadcasting and community radio stations. These positions involved working with the following institutions: Executive Producer, iMichigan Productions; Director, Education and Leadership Programs, The Phelps Stokes Fund; Member PBS Board of Directors; General Manager, University of Michigan Public Broadcasting TV 28 PBS; Consultant, KQED TV PBS; Executive Director of Broadcasting, University of Houston PBS; Vice President, General Manager WPFW FM radio in Washington, DC; Production Consultant, WLII TV Lorimar Telepictures in Puerto Rico; and Station Manager WTJX TV PBS in the US Virgin Islands.
A recent leadership position was with The Phelps Stokes Fund, which is North America's oldest continuously operating foundation dedicated to Education for Human Development in Africa, the African Diaspora in the Americas, indigenous communities in the Americas and other underserved and marginalized populations. Leon's major assignment with the Fund included working with board members, elected officials, members of the United States Congress, faith based organizations, members of the press, consultants, graphic artists, IT web designers and other stakeholders. His portfolio included five programs, which required working with domestic foundations, individual donors for educational programs, and the United States Agency for International Development and its contractors. The highlight of this assignment was working with seven community radio organizations in Liberia, West Africa, consisting of one hundred women and girls. A training program was developed and implemented for producing radio programs, which were broadcast to community radio stations and the United Nations Mission in Liberia Radio (UNMIL) that reached over three million people. The produced community radio programs focused on media literacy, gender issues, health, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and overall empowerment of women, girls and children in Liberia, West Africa.
A highlight in Leon's career was when he became Executive in Charge of Production for "A World Transformed: Our Reflections on Ending the Cold War", hosted by former President George H.W. Bush, and moderated by Jim Lehrer of PBS. Five world leaders: George H. W. Bush (former President of the United States 1989-1993), Mikhail Gorbachev (former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 1985-1991), Margaret Thatcher (former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1979-1990), Brian Mulroney (former Prime Minister of Canada 1984-1993) and François Mitterrand (former President of the French Republic 1981-1995) gathered at a private daylong summit in Colorado Springs,Colorado as part of a weekend fundraiser for the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Center. They were the world leaders when the Berlin Wall came down, the Soviet Union was dissolved, the Cold War ended, East and West Germany united, and the U.S. emerged as the world's only superpower. Houston PBS was there filming and documenting this historic event, and then edited the 41-hour discussions of these former world leaders into a 90-minute documentary. These discussions revealed the unprecedented foreign policy insights as these former world leaders spoke, as private citizens with their personal recollections and individual roles in history. The 90 minute summit special was distributed to PBS stations and international distributors.
One of Leon's involvements in supporting community development projects was when he became the Director of the Mott Community College (MCC) Community Technology Centers. These five centers were a partnership with the University of Michigan-Flint, The City of Flint and Comcast Cable, and were designed to serve economically disadvantaged residents, Hispanics and people with disabilities living in low-income areas of Flint, Michigan. Leon directed the day to day administrative processes, involving the coaching of center directors and staff for the development of curriculum and the development of a structured learning program, designed for individuals interested in gaining job skills. Center users were also able to utilize live video financial aid and admissions seminars at MCC and communicate with other video conferencing sites. Local residents developed technology skills with free introductory computer courses, computer ownership incentives, and gained advanced job development skills through mentors, job shadowing, PBS YOU (Your Own University) and tutorials at the centers.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to non-commercial, high-quality content and telecommunications services. It does so by distributing more than 70 percent of its funding to more than 1,400 locally owned public radio and television stations.
Pacifica Foundation is an American non-profit organization that owns five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations known for their progressive/liberal political orientation. Its national headquarters adjoins station KPFK in Los Angeles, California.
National Educational Television (NET) was an American educational broadcast television network owned by the Ford Foundation and later co-owned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It operated from May 16, 1954 to October 4, 1970, and was succeeded by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which has memberships with many television stations that were formerly part of NET.
WLII-DT, branded on-air as TeleOnce, is a television station licensed to Caguas, Puerto Rico, serving the U.S. territory as an affiliate of Univision and UniMás. Owned by Liberman Media Group, the station maintains studio facilities on Calle Carazo in Guaynabo, with additional studios at The Mall of San Juan. Its transmitter is located near the Bosque Estatal de Carite mountain reserve.
KCET is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOCE-TV. The two stations share studios at The Pointe in Burbank; KCET's transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award honors excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. The awards were established in 1942 and administered until 1967 by Washington and Lee University's O. W. Riegel, Curator and Head of the Department of Journalism and Communications. Since 1968 they have been administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, and are considered by some to be the broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, another program administered by Columbia University.
Urban One, Inc. is a Silver Spring, Maryland-based American media conglomerate. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans. It is the largest African-American-owned broadcasting company in the United States, operating 55 radio stations and majority-owning the syndicator Reach Media, as well as its digital arm Interactive One, and the cable network TV One.
Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington. OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF translators, and over 20 radio stations and frequencies. Broadcasts include local and regional programming as well as television programs from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and American Public Television (APT), and radio programs from National Public Radio (NPR), American Public Media (APM), Public Radio Exchange (PRX), and the BBC World Service, among other distributors. Its headquarters and television studios are located in Portland.
KUHT is a PBS member television station in Houston, Texas, United States. Owned by the University of Houston System, it is sister to NPR member station KUHF. The two stations share studios and offices in the Melcher Center for Public Broadcasting on the campus of the University of Houston. KUHT's transmitter is located near Missouri City, in unincorporated northeastern Fort Bend County. In addition, the station leased some of its studio operations to Tegna-owned CBS affiliate KHOU from August 2017 to February 2019 when the latter's original studios were inundated by Hurricane Harvey.
WETA-TV, virtual channel 26, is the primary Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to the American capital city of Washington, D.C. Owned by the Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association, it is a sister station to National Public Radio (NPR) member WETA. The two outlets share studios in nearby Arlington County, Virginia; WETA-TV's transmitter is located in the Tenleytown neighborhood in Northwest Washington.
WTVS, virtual channel 56, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Detroit, Michigan, United States. The station is owned by the Detroit Educational Television Foundation. WTVS' main studios are located at the Riley Broadcast Center and HD Studios in Wixom, with an additional studio at the Maccabees Building in Midtown Detroit. The station's transmitter is located at 8 Mile and Meyers Road in Oak Park. WTVS partners with the Stanley and Judith Frankel Family Foundation in the management of classical and jazz music station WRCJ-FM (90.9).
WVIZ is a PBS member television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Ideastream Public Media alongside classical music station WCLV, and co-managed with Kent State University–owned WKSU, an NPR member. The three stations share studio facilities at the Idea Center on Playhouse Square in Downtown Cleveland; WVIZ's transmitter is located in suburban Parma, Ohio.
Arkansas PBS is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Arkansas. It is operated by the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, a statutory non-cabinet agency of the Arkansas government operated through the Arkansas Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which holds the licenses for all of the public television stations based in the state. The commission is managed by an independent board of university and education officials, and gubernatorial appointees representing each of Arkansas's four congressional districts. Along with offering television programs supplied by PBS and various independent distributors, the network produces public affairs, cultural and documentary programming as well as sports events sanctioned by the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA).
WDCQ-TV, virtual channel 19, branded on-air as Delta College Public Media, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Bad Axe, Michigan, United States and serving the Flint/Tri-Cities television market. The station is owned by Delta College in University Center, an unincorporated community in Frankenlust Township in southwestern Bay County. WDCQ-TV's transmitter is located in Quanicassee, in northwestern Tuscola County.
WCMU-TV, virtual channel 14, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. The station is owned by Central Michigan University. WCMU-TV's studios are located on the CMU campus in Mount Pleasant, and its transmitter is located 3 miles (5 km) west of Barryton, Michigan.
Michigan Radio is a network of five FM public radio stations operated by the University of Michigan through its broadcasting arm, Michigan Public Media. The network is a founding member of National Public Radio and an affiliate of Public Radio International, American Public Media, and BBC World Service. Its main studio is located in Ann Arbor, with satellite studios in Flint and offices in Grand Rapids. It currently airs news and talk, which it has since July 1, 1996. The combined footprint of the five stations covers most of the southern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, from Muskegon to Detroit.
WCMZ-TV, virtual and UHF digital channel 28, was a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Flint, Michigan, United States. It was a satellite station of Mount Pleasant-licensed WCMU-TV which is owned by Central Michigan University (CMU). WCMZ-TV's transmitter was located off Kipp Road near M-15, just south east of the village of Goodrich in southeastern Genesee County, which is now used by former sister radio station WFUM.
Rodney W. Brown is a producer of local and national television. He was part of an African-American artistic renaissance in Washington, D.C., during the mid- to late 1970s that included Allan C Barnes, Wilfred Williams, Gary Price, Johnny Malone, Leon C. Collins and others.
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educational programming to public television stations in the United States, distributing shows such as Frontline, Nova, PBS NewsHour, Sesame Street, and This Old House.
Jacquie Jones was an American public television film director, producer, writer and media executive. She was an editor of the Black Film Review from 1989 to 1993. She was executive director of Black Public Media from 2005 to 2014.
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