Encouragement to learn interactively is evident in the rhetoric of FSTV policies, programming, public outreach (its Web site and newsletter), and even in the story of the channel’s history. The civil society that FSTV serves aligns with those voluntary associations promoted by Tocqueville, and in turn serves a certain population of like-minded citizens who are often volunteers working within their own communities, but who are also knowledgeable about the global community. Despite diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and goals, the learning cultures of alternative media that exist within FSTV and Indymedia still democratically