KPFA FM in Berkeley, California is the first "public" radio station in the country, predecessor of NPR, PBS and all the other various entities providing non-commercial broadcasting. Except that KPFA is even more left wing.

Noelle Hanrahan, who worked at the station on and off for more than a decade before being fired in 2002, says the images of the station and its parent Pacifica network as beacons of equality are contradicted by their treatment of her and several other women who have filed suits or discrimination complaints against Pacifica stations in other cities.

"KPFA has had a history of treating female employees in a way that's both illegal and contrary to Pacifica's mission," said Hanrahan, an elected member of the station's local advisory board. [snip]

The issue is difficult for a station and a network that promote themselves as progressive alternatives to the broadcasting and political establishments.