Editing Low-power broadcasting (section)

====Legislation====

=====Origins of LPFM=====
In January 2000, the [[Federal Communications Commission]] established Low Power FM (LPFM) as a new designated class of radio station. These stations were allowed to operate at 1–10 or 50–100 watts of power, compared to the minimum requirement for commercial stations at 100 watts. ({{CodeFedReg|47|73|211}}). Originally, it was supported by activists and groups associated with [[Progressivism in the United States|American progressivism]]; music artists (such as [[Bonnie Raitt]]); religious leaders/churches (such as the [[United Church of Christ]]); and educators (for example, [[American Library Association]], the [[Communication Workers of America]] [[trade union|labor union]], the [[National League of Cities]]).

The original purpose of LPFM was to serve as an alternative to "[[radio homogenization]]", described in 2001 in the ''[[Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly|J & MC Quarterly]]'', as "... Necessary to offset the growing consolidation of station ownership in the wake of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which removed caps on radio ownership, as well as the decline of locally produced radio programming."<ref name="Class D to LPFM">{{cite journal|author1 = Alan G. Stavisky|author2 = Robert K. Avery|author3 =  Helena Vanhala|title = From Class D to LPFM: The High-Powered Politics of Low-Power Radio|journal =  Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly|volume = 78|issue = 2|date = 2001|pages = 340–54|doi = 10.1177/107769900107800209|s2cid = 144058577}}</ref> The main opposition to LPFMs came from the [[National Association of Broadcasters]] (NAB), which opposed the act on grounds to "maintain spectrum integrity" for commercial broadcasting, according to NAB President Edward O. Fritts.<ref name="Class D to LPFM"/>

=====Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000=====<!-- linked from "National Association of Broadcasters" -->
Pressure from the National Association of Broadcasters urged [[United States Congress|Congress]] to slip the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000 into a general spending bill then moving through Congress. President [[Bill Clinton]] signed the bill in December 2000. The bill passed by Congress ([http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&dbname=cp106&sid=cp106nfZjS&refer=&r_n=hr567.106&item=&sel=TOC_12219& H.R.567]) was meant to tighten standards for LPFM stations, making it harder for them to be approved, to protect full-power FM stations through certain provisions:
# The FCC has the ability and jurisdiction to license LPFM stations.<ref>{{cite web|date = 1999|title = H.R. 3439 [106th]: Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000|access-date = February 12, 2008|url = http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h106-3439&tab=summary}}</ref>
# Third adjacent channel interference protections require LPFM stations to be separated by at least 0.6&nbsp;MHz from all other stations, to prevent signal interference.
# Applicants who have engaged in the unlicensed operation of any station cannot receive LPFM licenses.
# The FCC agreed to commission studies on the interference by, and economic impact of, LPFM on full-power stations (the findings, later published in the ''[[MITRE Corporation]] Report'', suggest that third adjacent channel interference protections may not be necessary).<ref>{{cite journal|journal = Radio Magazine|date = March 1, 2004|title = FCC Reports LPFM Interference Findings to Congress|access-date = March 3, 2008|url = http://www.mediaaccess.org/programs/lpfm/RADIOmagazine.pdf|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080409100247/http://www.mediaaccess.org/programs/lpfm/RADIOmagazine.pdf|archive-date = April 9, 2008}}</ref>

This act shifted policy making from the FCC to Congress, which was considered an insult against the FCC.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Stavisky, Alan G. |author2=Avery, Robert K. |author3=Vanhala, Helena |year=2001 |title=From class&nbsp;D to LPFM: The high-powered politics of low-power radio |journal=[[Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly]] |volume=78 |issue=2 |pages=340–354|doi=10.1177/107769900107800209 |s2cid=144058577 }}</ref>

=====Local Community Radio Act of 2005=====
The Local Community Radio Act of 2005 was introduced by Senators [[John McCain]], [[Maria Cantwell]] and [[Patrick Leahy]]. After the FCC complied with the provisions of the Radio Broadcasting Act of 2000 by commissioning [http://www.recnet.net/mitre/2.pdf the MITRE Report] to test if there was significant interference from LPFM stations on the full-power stations, the study showed that the interference of LPFM is minimal and would not have a significant effect on other stations.<ref>{{cite news |first=Mike |last=Janssen |date=August 4, 2003 |title=Interference study finds room for more low-power FMs |newspaper=[[Current (newspaper)|Current]] |place=Washington, DC |publisher=American University |department=School of Communication |url=http://www.current.org/tech/tech0314lpfm.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525090155/http://www.current.org/tech/tech0314lpfm.html |archive-date=May 25, 2011}}</ref> According to Sen. Leahy, "This bill will open up the airwaves to truly local broadcasting while protecting full-power broadcasters from unreasonable interference and preserving important services such as reading services for the blind."<ref>{{cite press release |title=United States Senator John McCain<!-- Bot generated title --> |department=Press Office |url=http://mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=8904246a-cd92-489c-81b1-48d8eddc4298&Region_id=&Issue_id= |url-status=dead |access-date=March 7, 2009 |archive-date=May 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526152301/http://mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=8904246a-cd92-489c-81b1-48d8eddc4298&Region_id=&Issue_id= }}{{full citation needed|date=August 2021|reason=Needs real title, author(s), date, archive URL}}</ref>

=====Local Community Radio Act of 2007=====
Sponsored in the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] by Congressmen [[Mike Doyle (Pennsylvania politician)|Mike Doyle]] and [[Lee Terry]] and in the [[United States Senate]] by Senators Maria Cantwell and John McCain, the Local Community Radio Act of 2007 never came to a vote. The House bill, H.R. 2802, was referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet on June 21, 2007.<ref name="govtrack.us">{{cite web|date = 2007|title = H.R. 2802: Local Community Radio Act of 2007|access-date = February 12, 2008|url = http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2802}}</ref> Since the bill was not passed in FY 2007, the bill was removed from the docket as ''Never Passed''.

=====Local Community Radio Act of 2009=====
This bill was an update of the Local Community Radio Act of 2007. It would have required the FCC to alter current rules by removing the minimum frequency separation between low-power FM stations and third-adjacent channel stations.<ref name="ww-111hr1147">{{cite web|date = 2009|title = H.R. 1147, The Local Community Radio Act of 2009|access-date =  May 23, 2009|url = http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_HR_1147.html#toc2|publisher = Washington Watch}}</ref> Previously, there was a minimum frequency separation; however the FCC found that LPFM stations did not cause any interference on third-adjacent channel stations, thus eliminating the need for such a requirement.<ref>{{cite journal|journal = RADIO Magazine - the Radio Technology Leader|date = 2004|title = FCC Reports LPFM Interference Findings to Congress|access-date = May 24, 2009|url = http://www.mediaaccess.org/programs/lpfm/RADIOmagazine.pdf|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081012040159/http://www.mediaaccess.org/programs/lpfm/RADIOmagazine.pdf|archive-date = October 12, 2008}}</ref>

The Local Community Radio Act of 2009 also would have required that the FCC keep the rules that offer interference protection to third-adjacent channels that offer a [[radio reading service]] (the reading of newspapers, books or magazines for those who are blind or hearing impaired).<ref>{{cite web|website = KPBS Radio Reading Service|title = About|access-date = May 23, 2009|url = http://kpbsreadingservice.org}}</ref> This protection will ensure that such channels are not subject to possible interference by LPFM stations.<ref name="govtrack.us"/>

The final part of the bill required that when giving out licenses to FM stations, the FCC must make sure that these licenses are also available to LPFM stations and that licensing decisions are made with regard to local community needs.<ref name="ww-111hr1147"/> The bill had unanimous bipartisan support from FCC leadership. It was passed by the House and referred to the Senate.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ4TC9Aqjfc| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211113/CQ4TC9Aqjfc| archive-date=November 13, 2021 | url-status=live|title=FCC: Unanimous, bipartisan support for LPFM|date=September 18, 2009|author=United States Congress|publisher=[[Free Press (advocacy group)|Free Press (organization)]]|author-link=United States Congress}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

=====Local Community Radio Act of 2010=====
The Local Community Radio Act of 2010 (based upon the legislation originally introduced in 2005) was signed into law by President [[Barack Obama]] on January 4, 2011, as {{USPL|111|371}}, after passage in the House on December 17, 2010, and the U.S. Senate on December 18, 2010. In a statement after the bill became law, Federal Communications Commission chairman [[Julius Genachowski]] said, "Low power FM stations are small, but they make a giant contribution to local community programming. This important law eliminates the unnecessary restrictions that kept these local stations off the air in cities and towns across the country." The Act states that the Federal Communications Commission, when licensing new FM translator stations, FM booster stations, and low-power FM stations, should ensure that licenses are available to FM translator stations, FM booster stations, and low-power FM stations; such decisions are made based on the needs of the local community; and FM translator stations, FM booster stations, and low-power FM stations remain equal in status and secondary to existing and modified full-service FM stations.

In general, the FCC was to modify its rules to eliminate third-adjacent minimum frequency separation requirements between low-power FM stations; and full-service FM stations, FM translator stations, and FM booster stations.