Pacifica Foundation
Pacifica Foundation is an American non-profit organization that owns five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations known for their progressive/liberal[1][2] political orientation. Its national headquarters adjoins station KPFK in Los Angeles, California.
Type
Nationwide
Los Angeles, California
Pacifica Foundation
1946
by Lewis Hill and E. John Lewis
April 15, 1949
Global
Pacifica Foundation also operates the Pacifica Network, a program service supplying over 200 affiliated stations with various programs, primarily news and public affairs.[3] It was the first public radio network in the United States and it is the world's oldest listener-funded radio network.[4][5] Programs such as Democracy Now! and Free Speech Radio News have been some of its most popular productions.
History[edit]
Early history[edit]
Pacifica was founded in 1946 by pacifists E. John Lewis and Lewis Hill. During World War II, both of them had filed for conscientious objector status. After the war, Lewis, Hill and a small group of former conscientious objectors created the Pacifica Foundation in Pacifica, California. Their first station, KPFA in Berkeley, commenced broadcasting in 1949. By 1977, the network had added WBAI in New York City, KPFK in Los Angeles, WPFW in Washington, DC, and KPFT in Houston.[6]
In 1973, one of Pacifica's stations, WBAI, broadcast comedian George Carlin's Filthy Words routine uncensored. Following a listener complaint, Pacifica received a letter of reprimand from the FCC, censuring them for allegedly violating broadcast regulations which prohibited airing indecent material.[7] The foundation took the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court in FCC v. Pacifica Foundation and lost in a 5–4 decision. This became a landmark moment in the history of free speech, and the case continues to define the power of the government over broadcast material it calls indecent.[8]
Programs[edit]
Democracy Now![edit]
A show that for years has been considered the flagship of Pacifica Radio's national programming is Democracy Now!, an independent news organization that covers democracy, human rights and justice issues, and questions the motives of U.S. foreign and domestic policy. Hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan González, this program is a compilation of news, interviews, and documentaries. Democracy Now! is heard and seen on more than 700 radio and TV stations across the U.S. including public-access television stations and satellite television channels Free Speech TV and Link TV.[23] WDEV, based in Waterbury, Vermont, is the only commercial radio station in the U.S. that carries the program[24]—even though it is also heard in north-central Vermont over Pacifica affiliate WGDR in Plainfield and its sister station, WGDH in Hardwick.[25]
In 2002, as Pacifica implemented its new listener-sponsor-accountability structure and as Pacifica and Democracy Now! settled outstanding disputes from previous years, Democracy Now! spun off with substantial funding from Pacifica to become an independent production.
Other Pacifica programming: 2000-2006[edit]
The Pacifica network, in addition to extensive community-based productions at its various stations around the United States, also featured a daily newscast Free Speech Radio News from 2003-2013. FSRN was a radio program founded by Pacifica Reporters Against Censorship, a group of mostly Pacifica Network News reporters who went on strike against the Pacifica board policies of the late 1990s. FSRN was primarily funded by Pacifica, and includes headlines and news features produced by reporters based around the U.S. and in scores of countries around the world. In September 2013, the board of directors of FSRN issued a lay-off notice to all staff, and confirmed that their last broadcast would take place on September 27, 2013. The board cited financial difficulties as the reason for the decision.[26]
In 2006, Pacifica added two new national programs: From the Vault from the Pacifica Radio Archives, a weekly program that thematically repackages archival material, making it relevant to contemporary listeners; and Informativo Pacifica, based at KPFK in Los Angeles, a daily Spanish-language newscast that includes reporters from the U.S. and many Latin American countries.