GOODMAN HOLDS COURT ON RADIO'S LONELY LEFT.(TRAVEL-BOOKS)

Byline: GREG BRAXTON Los Angeles Times -

``Democracy Now!'' radio host Amy Goodman flashed an appreciative smile from her podium as the overflow crowd inside the Satellite Student Center at the California State University, Fresno, spilled onto the large bare stage behind her and into the aisles of the 650-seat auditorium.

Surveying the scene from the back were frowning fire marshals who moments earlier had threatened to shut down Goodman's lecture, as well as event organizers who had not expected the massive turnout. Finally, to appease the authorities, dozens of latecomers reluctantly departed, resigned to listening to the talk on speakers outside along with more than a hundred others who could not get in.

``So many people have turned out that I've decided to cut short my five-hour speech,'' began Goodman. The roar of laughter and applause from her faithful following suggested that, even though they got her joke, they would have welcomed an all-night session with Goodman, the most high-profile personality on the left-leaning Pacifica radio network. In the Capital Region, her show is broadcast from 9 to 10 a.m. weekdays on WRPI (91.5 FM).

It was the opening night of the Amy Goodman Radio and Road Show, a 70-city whirlwind jaunt that will take her across the United States to promote ``The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers and the Media That Love Them'' (Hyperion; 352 page; $21.95). On Monday, Goodman brings the show to Albany's Philip Livingston Magnet Academy, where she'll be the guest at a benefit for the Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center.

The new book, which she wrote along with her brother, David Goodman, is described by the pair as an expose of the ``lies, corruption and crimes of the power elite -- an elite that is bolstered by large media conglomerates.''

Goodman is continuing daily broadcasts of ``Democracy Now!,'' which is normally based in New York, from each city's Pacifica radio affiliate.

FACTS:Sanctuary of dissent

The release of ``The Exception to the Rulers'' and the elevated fervor surrounding Goodman come as President Bush is under increased scrutiny about the war in Iraq, particularly as U.S casualties are rising and comparisons to the Vietnam War are being made. Goodman's devotees said she challenged the decision to go to war in Iraq when much of the mainstream media did not.

The fan base of ``Amyheads'' is expanding in an age in which right-wing voices such as Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity dominate the radio airwaves. The recently launched Air America, with its more left-wing agenda, has been little more than a tepid challenge to those voices due to financial and technical difficulties. Goodman, who calls Pacifica ``a sanctuary of dissent,'' has emerged as radio's voice of the left.

Although Goodman has strong views about myriad international issues and domestic economic trends (``I'm very concerned about the growing gap between the very rich and the very poor''), much of the discourse surrounding her tour is on Iraq. She maintains that corporate-owned television networks and newspapers are little more than ``megaphones'' for the government.

In her Fresno address, Goodman lashed out at the irresponsibility of what she called the corporate-owned media. ``I don't even like calling them mainstream media. It is extremist media expressing the views of the minority elite,'' she declared to thunderous applause.

The tour kickoff coincided with the 55th anniversary of Pacifica Radio, started in 1949 by Lew Hill, a pacifist who had refused to fight in World War II. Hill's vision for Pacifica, Goodman said, was for an independent network run by artists and journalists, not by corporations benefiting from war.

FACTS:Raw and authentic

The daughter of politically active parents, Goodman, who grew up on Long Island, first heard Pacifica radio soon after she had graduated from Harvard-Radcliffe in 1984 with a degree in anthropology. ``I was so struck by how raw and authentic it sounded,'' she recalled. ``It was the original reality radio. There was nothing slick or glossed over about it.''

She began working at the network's WBAI and in 1986 began co-hosting the topical morning show, ``Wake-up Call.'' In 1996, she began hosting ``Democracy Now!'' described as ``the only daily election show in public broadcasting.'' The show is broadcast on hundreds of community radio and public-access TV stations and beamed over satellite TV and on the Internet.

While she tells listeners that it is important to vote in the presidential election, she is not endorsing a candidate.

Goodman downplays what appears to be her growing celebrity, saying it's more about issues than about personality. ``When I see the attention that I'm getting, I feel it demonstrates the hunger for independent voices,'' said Goodman. ``People are fed up because they're not getting honest information. This is not about me.'' FACTS:Leaning left AMY GOODMAN What: The host of NPR's ``Democracy Now!'' signs her book ``The Exception to the Rulers'' at a buffet benefit for the Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center. When: 5:30 p.m. Monday Cost: $50 Info: 286-3411 Also: At 7 p.m. Monday, there will be a screening of the Goodman-narrated documentary ``Independent Media in a Time of War.'' 442-4480. $10. Philip Livingston Magnet Academy, 315 Northern Blvd., Albany.

CAPTION(S):

GINO DOMENICO/ASSOCIATED PRESS AMY GOODMAN hosts her public-affairs radio program, ``Democracy Now!'' The proud leftie just co-authored a new book, ``The Exception to the Rulers,'' and the President might not be amused.