Who We Are

Pittsburgh Educational Television (PET), established in 1996, is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the production of alternative programs in Pittsburgh for local and national distribution.

Jerry Starr serves as PET President and "Homefront" Producer. For more than 10 years, Starr, a retired professor of sociology at West Virginia University, worked to make WQED-TV accountable to the public and to genuinely reflect the diversity of the Pittsburgh-area community. Jerry's book, Air Wars: The Fight to Reclaim Public Broadcasting, published by Beacon Press (2000) and reprinted in paperback by Temple University Press (2001), details this struggle. Since 1999, Jerry has been executive director, Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting, a national grassroots campaign to put the public back in public broadcasting. With years of experience as a media activist and deep knowledge of public broadcasting nationally, Jerry provides his leadership and direction to Pittsburgh Educational Television.