The records of the Pacifica Foundation document the activities of its first four FM radio stations. Though not extensive, this documentation is best for station programming. Except for the minutes of recent national meetings, there is little that pertains to Pacifica policy-making. The collection is divided into four series: general, broadcasting controversies and complaints, station operations and programming, and KPFA daily news scripts.

The GENERAL series contains background information, correspondence and memos, personnel lists, financial and fund-raising data, policy guidelines (1965 and 1966), newsletters, minutes of national meetings (which often contain station reports), promotional material, and a copy of The Exacting Ear: The Story of Listener-Sponsored Radio and an Anthology of Programs of KPFA, KPFK, and WBAI (1966), edited by Eleanor McKinney. Also included here are catalogs, promotional literature, and related material concerning Pacifica's affiliate membership program and tape sales. The BROADCASTING CONTROVERSIES AND COMPLAINTS series contains records of the investigations of Pacifica by the United States Senate and the Federal Communications Commission, 1963-1964. Included are the proceedings of the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, Pacifica's reply to the FCC charges against KPFK programming, news articles, and a draft study (circa 1967) about both investigations. The series also contains copies of complaints about Pacifica stations, 1969-1970, and material concerning opposition to the establishment of WPFW by the periodical Barron's, April 1970.

The STATION OPERATIONS AND PROGRAMMING series is divided by station; most of the material consists of program guides issued to subscribers.

The guides are fairly comprehensive for KPFA, KPFK, and WBAI. In addition to schedules of programs, the more recent issues of these guides frequently contain such items as reports of station financial status, data on community support, letters from subscribers, and feature stories on issues and events of local significance. Although there are some news releases about the KPFT bombings and miscellaneous material concerning WBAI (minutes of a local board meeting, 1975, news articles, and promotional material), documentation of station activity, exclusive of program guides, is adequate only for KPFA and KPFK. The KPFA portion of the series includes a pamphlet by Lewis Hill, Voluntary Listener-Sponsorship: Report to Educational Broadcasters on the Experiment of KPFA, 1958; news articles and related material on KPFA employee strikes, 1964 and 1974; promotional material; and transcripts of programs and special news reports, 1955-1970. KPFK has a station prospectus, 1959; an employee contract, 1964; a pamphlet containing transcripts of KPFK programs, 1963-1964; a copy of a book, Dallas in Wonderland, by Paul V. Dallas, General Manager and Director of Programming of KPFK, 1966-1967; and KPFK promotional material.

The KPFA DAILY NEWS SCRIPTS series consists of nineteen cartons of partially processed news scripts, 1963-1973. Most of these scripts fall within the period 1968 to 1972. Twelve cartons contain scripts in chronological order; the balance are divided by subject, then by country or region, and include indexes prepared by the KPFA staff. Coverage and indexing of news scripts for the Vietnam War, 1967-1969, is especially noteworthy.