Gretjen Clausing

Gretjen Clausing was the Founding Executive Director of PhillyCAM, Philadelphia Community Access Media, and one of the people who helped turn decades of organizing for public access into a working community media home. She died in May 2026 at age 61, after nearly two decades leading the institution she helped build. She studied communication and media at Ithaca College and went on to work as Program Director at Scribe Video Center before dedicating herself to the long campaign to win public access television for Philadelphia - lobbying Comcast, Verizon, and Philadelphia City Council to ensure that space on the cable system was reserved for the public. PhillyCAM launched in 2009, and when she opened the production studio in 2012, she said it was to give all Philadelphians an opportunity to amplify their voices through media.

Under her care, PhillyCAM became a civic and creative space where artists, organizers, immigrants, young people, elders, neighborhood groups, and everyday residents could tell stories in their own voices. The station's membership reflected the full city - majority people of color, producers from nearly every zip code, and a growing community of Spanish-speaking radio and television producers. PhillyCAM won the Alliance for Community Media's award for Best Overall Public Access Station in the country, and in 2016 she co-founded WPPM 106.5 FM, extending the organization's reach into community radio. She served on the ACM national board and was actively engaged in national campaigns supporting community media through Free Press and other advocacy organizations.

Her passing is a real loss for the field. The institution she helped create - through nearly three decades of advocacy, organizing, and hands-on leadership - continues to carry her belief that local voices deserve more than a platform. They deserve a home.