Well I'm a stranger to Pacifica...except I read enough U.S. magazines and stuff to know there's been a situation going on there for some time.

Interesting thinking aout the parallels between PBS and CBC--the CBC is perhaps going in the same direction, in some ways, except that it is government (tax) supported rather than by those incredibly annoying funding drives...but I think both in the U.S. and Canada, where there is a major nation-wide public broadcasting network, there is still a need for a looser network of independent non-profit community stations which in many cases are opinion leaders among the media, although they won't admit it. (But what made "alternative music" a phenom, and keeps indy folk music on the airwaves? College radio. And where do many or most broadcasters start learning their trade? College/community radio.)

It appears that it's problematic to develop such independents into a regional network--it attracts takeover (and makeover) interest.

Bill C