| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 87.2

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 87.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Pacifica Radio: The Rise of an Alternative Network. By Matthew Lasar. (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999. xvi, 277 pp. $34.95, isbn 1-56639-660-3.)

It seemed like a bad radio drama: KPFA in Berkeley—the nation's first listener-supported, alternative radio station, a station founded by pacifists—was locking out staff members, turning back public demonstrators, employing armed security guards, and fielding death threats from angry listeners. 1

But the drama was all too real. After more than fifty years of alternative programming, KPFA began this new century literally and figuratively under siege. The station was embroiled in a destructive and divisive dispute with the board members of its owners, the Pacifica Foundation. Staff members and supportive listeners charged that Pacifica was taming and conforming KPFA's radical broadcasts. The board said KPFA needed to broaden its appeal. 2

Protesters took out national advertisements decrying "Censorship at 'Free Speech' Pacifica Radio." Dueling Web sites hurled charges and countercharges. The heavy hitters of alternative politics—Noam Chomsky, Barbara Ehrenreich, Michael Parenti, Michael Moore, Edward Herman, Norman Solomon, Robert McChesney, Angela Davis, and others—were enlisted in support of the staff. . . .

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