Legendary community producer Harold Channer, whose pioneering public access show featured a Who’s Who of New York’s intellectual, cultural and political life for nearly 50 years, passed away on New Year’s Eve at the Montrose VA Center in the Hudson Valley. He was 86-years-old.
He leaves behind his beloved partner, Maggie Borges, a daughter Lisa of Minneapolis, a son David of Berkeley, California, and an extraordinary community of media colleagues in NYC and internationally.
“Harold distinguished himself as a dynamic and cutting-edge producer, always in search of new frontiers, new truths and new ways of ensuring human progress,” said Dan Coughlin, CEO of Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN). “His commitment to MNN, to community media and the legions of local producers reflected his unbound curiosity, his optimism in the power of ideas, and his fervent belief in the potential for human growth and transformation, no matter how bleak the picture.”