From Z Magazine, Letters Section, April 1997

Pacifica
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Thank you very much for your commentary on the situation at Pacifica radio. It's high time the left broke the silence and began to seriously examine what Pat Scott and the Pacifica Board are doing. As a volunteer at WORT-FM in Madison, Wisconsin, I spend much of my time each week fighting to keep the airwaves open to the community.

Although I can't speak for WORT's Board, staff or other volunteers, I believe that many share my view that Pacifica used to be right there at our side. KPFA and WBAI were among the first who set out to do what NPR did not---open their doors and make radio a challenging medium that reflaects and enhamces our community. Somewhere, among the closed meetings and gag orders, our allies went MIA. I want them back.

It's hard to criticize our own. Even though their not acting like it, Pacifica is our own. We need to take them to task, just as we recognize our own faults and work to change them. Balancing fundraising needs with programming has always been the bane of non-profit radio and dealing with unionized volunteers is tricky.

I sympathize with Pacifica's quandary, but I want to hear from them. The business of radio is communication, not silence, and their audience has a right to hear all of the sides of the issue. I hope that Pacifica hasn't lost track of that. Democracy isn't easy. Neither is access. But without them we're hypocrites.

-----James Carrot
     Madison, WI