The Alternative Media Center was established within the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 1971 by professors George C. Stoney and Red Burns. After co-teaching a video production course focused on the use of video in a community-based context, Stoney and Burns co-founded the AMC and began their work training citizens in the tools of video production for what would eventually become Public-Access television. Both Stoney and Burns were documentary filmmakers and Stoney is referred to as the "father of public-access television."

The early 1970s saw significant developments in technology and media, including the then-new tool of portable video made possible by the creation of Sony's "Portapak" and Apple II computers. The AMC was created with a focus on exploring this new technology and to serve as a pioneering center for application development and field trials. Through the AMC, Stoney, Burns, and their colleagues worked to make significant developments in their fields of documentary film and traditional media. This included lobbying Congress for the creation of what is now public access cable television and significant field trials for two-way television in community settings, the use of Teletext in major urban centers and communications technologies for the developmentally disabled.

Professor Burns believed a graduate course of study was needed for new media developers, and in 1979 the Interactive Telecommunications Program developed as a graduate department focused on the study and design of new media and social applications. In 1983 Professor Burns was appointed Chair of the ITP department and maintained the position until 2010.