Editing Low-power broadcasting (section)

=====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"/>