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Pacifica Radio turned 60 years old on April 15, 2009. Lew Hill and a staff of four launched the first listener-supported radio station in the world on April 15, 1949 at 3:00 PM, in a makeshift Berkeley studio, with the words: “This is KPFA Berkeley.”
The rest is History. Four more cities gained the sound of Pacifica when local residents created new Pacifica stations KPFK in Los Angeles, WBAI in New York City, KPFT in Houston, and WPFW in Washington DC.
Pacifica also inspired a movement of community radio stations throughout the United States, many who are independent and locally based, but are affiliates. As a result, the Pacifica Network, today, includes approximately 150 stations, that collaborate daily to bring grassroots community radio and free media to American citizens.
For sixty years, since the McCarthy era, America’s oldest independent media network has defied political pressures and the conventions and internal censors inherent to mainstream media. A haven and training ground for artists and journalists, Pacifica has been the vanguard of free media. Breaking important news, providing historical and political analysis, and discovering some of our greatest artistic talents, Pacifica Radio has brought us the great voices of each era.
Listen to a mix of voices over Pacifica Airwaves from Lew Hill to Barak Obama (29 mintes long)
From the storied depths of the Pacifica Radio Archives, which curates
over 50,000 recordings representing sixty years of Pacifica’s broadcast
history, From the Vault presents an audio celebration of Pacifica’s
60th Birthday.
From the Vault: FTV 0153 Pacifica Turns 60 (60 minutes long)
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