Before the coming of Air America Radio, progressives had little choice when it came to non-mainstream information on the airwaves. Unless you were able to pick up a college station which did some independent news or listened to National Public Radio (the slant of which is questionable and also depends on what local affiliates would allow). Fortunately, there were some markets in the U.S. which had another option.

The Pacifica Foundation has about a half dozen stations around the country which air a number of local and national programs of information & news. The most well-known being "Democracy Now!" the program begun at WBAI (99.5 FM in NYC), hosted by Amy Goodman. I was first introduced to 'community supported radio' back in 1980, while working as the manager of a small retail store in Westport, CT. The reception wasn't all that good, depending on time of day and weather, but I became hooked on a number of the programs broadcast throughout the day and evenings.

I've placed a link to the main Pacifica page over at the Left, and it will enable you to further link to both the DEMOCRACY NOW and FREE SPEECH RADIO pages. More links are available to the various independent 'sister' stations which make up the Pacifica Network. Most allow you to hear either live feeds or archival broadcasts via your computer.