APTS Honors Malcolm Brett For Public Service

The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) on Sunday presented the first-ever Pillar of Public Service Award to Malcolm Brett, director of broadcast and media innovations for Wisconsin Public Television. The Pillar of Public Service Award recognizes the contributions of an extraordinary leader in one of public television’s three pillars of public service: education, public safety and civic leadership.

“Malcolm Brett has provided innovative and exemplary services in the area of civic leadership, to both Wisconsin Public Television and our country as a whole,” said Patrick Butler, president and CEO of APTS. “Malcolm’s remarkable leadership has resulted in several groundbreaking and novel initiatives about and for veterans, including honoring 30,000 veterans at an event which was the largest gathering of Vietnam veterans in the U.S., as well as a three-hour documentary, ‘Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories,’ which included never-before-heard stories by Vietnam War veterans. Malcolm’s commitment to civic leadership has helped citizens and communities understand the issues veterans face locally and regionally, and enabled them to develop solutions based on facts and rooted in community partnerships. No one is more deserving of this inaugural Pillar of Public Service Award than Malcolm Brett, and I’m honored to present it to him.”

“I am honored to accept this award on behalf of the collective and collaborative work of our TV and radio staff who have conceived, shaped and delivered programming for and about veterans for over a decade,” said Brett. “This body of work, and their convening of veterans, veteran support organizations and communities around Wisconsin has been a model for how an engaged public broadcaster can work with and for the community we serve. We are gratified by the number of stations around the country who have taken up this work. We feel privileged to contribute to the recognition and support of our veterans, and to contributing to dialogue around veterans’ issues in service to them and to the communities they return to.”

Malcolm Brett is director of broadcast and media innovations of University of Wisconsin Extension. He is responsible for Wisconsin Public Television (WPT), Wisconsin Public Radio and Instructional Communications Systems. Media innovations have included research involving interactive/enhanced television, video delivery over Internet 2 and media asset management that emerged with the transition to digital television broadcasting. Brett previously held the position of director of television for WPT.

Brett was elected to the to the PBS Board of Directors in 2008, serving two terms concluding his service as vice chair of the board. During the past two decades at WPT, Brett also has served as a production manager for the national program New Tech Times, corporate development manager, director of development and executive director of Friends of WPT.

The 2016 Pillar of Public Service Award was presented to Brett during The APTS Public Media Summit on Sunday, Feb. 21.