Cooney, Joan Ganz, 1929–, American television producer, b. Phoenix, Ariz. After graduating (1951) from the Univ. of Arizona, Cooney worked as a newspaper reporter and television publicist for ten years before becoming a producer at WNET, a public television station in New York City. There she developed the concepts for children's programming that led to the incorporation (1968) of the Children's Television Workshop (CTW; since 2000, Sesame Workshop); Cooney was its president from 1970 to 1990. Through Sesame Street, Electric Company, and other innovative programs, CTW transformed children's television and learning. Cooney was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995.
See D. Kamp, Sunny Days: The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America (2020).
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