Public Service Announcement - Radio

Public Service Announcement: 

A public service announcement (PSA) or public service ad, are messages in the public interest distributed by the media without charge, with the objective of raising awareness, changing public attitudes and behavior towards a social issue. They can tout the importance of medical check-ups for children or ask you to donate to the Salvation Army's bell ringers. Public service announcements are not paid advertising. A broadcaster donates the ad time as part of its commitment to serve the public interest.

Generally, PSA's are sent as ready-to-air audio or video tapes, although radio stations (especially community or public stations, such as campus radio or National Public Radio affiliates) sometimes prefer a script that their announcers can read live on the air. They can be done very simply with a single actor reading or performing a message, or they can be elaborate, slickly-produced messages with music, dramatic story-lines, and sound or visual effects.

Advantages of PSA's 

 PSA's are generally inexpensive. Since the airtime is donated, your only cost is production. If you keep to a tight budget, you can make PSA's very cheaply. 

 Most stations will allow you to include a telephone number for more information in your PSA. 

 PSA's tend to be really effective at encouraging the audience to do something -- for example, call a phone number for more information, use condoms, or have your pet spayed or neutered. 

 PSA's can raise awareness of your issue. 

Limitations of PSA's 

 Because PSA's depend on donated time, you'll often find you're not able to get them run on all the media outlets you'd like to, or you may find yourself at the mercy of station staff members who may be overworked, arbitrary, or personally opposed to your group's work. PSA's are often run as "filler" in the middle of the night or during other times when only a few people are listening or watching. 

 The competition among non-profit groups for free air time is very stiff -- depending on the market, there could be hundreds of other groups vying for time on any given station. You may not be able to count on getting a lot of air time for your PSA's. 

 Stations tend to shy away from "controversial" PSA's. If your group focuses on an issue that is the subject of heated public debate -- anti-abortion advocacy or gay rights, for example -- you may have a hard time convincing stations to run your PSA. 

 Stations may not track and report when your PSA's have been played, but they will do this for paid advertising. 

 PSA's do require a bit of work on your part, and they tend to be ineffective at influencing policy. Consider them more when you have a specific action you want the viewer or listener to take, or coordinate with other activities designed to influence people's behavior. 

 Radio PSA’s 

 It's generally a lot easier to get a PSA run on the radio than on television. 

 At First send PSA, following station guidelines. 

  Radio is often overlooked for PSAs, but has many advantages. 

  Because radio stations are source to specific audiences, it’s easy to target your message. Overall,        radio reaches a large audience inexpensively. 

  Since many stations accept print copies of PSAs (called scripts) to be read by an announcer or disc       jockey. 

   Scripted radio PSAs should be typed in all capitals, using long em-dashes (—) instead of                    commas, and ellipses (...) instead of periods. 

  Be sure the script is easy to read and understandable. 

 Use natural, conversational language. 

  When writing the script, read it out loud at a natural pace to hear how it will       sound, and use a        timer to determine its length. 

 Indicate the PSA length at the top of the page, along with the PSA's title. 

  Production quality is important for pre-produced PSAs it’s best to obtain professional assistance to      write the script and professional talent to read and record. 

  Produced PSAs may be submitted on compact disc, reel-to-reel or cassette tapes. 

Tips for radio: 

•  Finding professional announcers is helpful but not vital. Volunteers at community or campus radio stations, people who read for the blind and storytellers are all experienced in doing voiceover work. Just keep your target group in mind when choosing actors. People tend to respond better to those who sound like they might be their approximate age and background. 
•  In radio, your audience is usually doing at least one other thing in addition to listening; driving, reading, partying, studying, working, gardening, cleaning, etc. It's important to grab the audience's attention quickly and hold it. 
•  Try to use short, arresting sentences aimed directly at the listener at the beginning of the PSA to help grab their attention. For example: "Your heart could be a ticking time bomb. Has one or both of your parents had heart disease? If so, your chances of developing heart disease later in life are a lot higher than for most people." 

Overall tips 

 If you can afford to, make multiple PSA's so that the same one doesn't play over and over.   You don't want your audience to get sick of your message, so having different versions of the same message or several different PSA's with different messages, is one way to mix things up and keep their attention. 

 Keep it brief and simple! Focus what you want the viewer to do or remember after they see or hear your PSA. 

 Stick to having only two or three main characters in the PSA to help your audience focus on the message. 

 Let the actors give you feedback and make suggestions on the script.  

 They will appreciate that you take their input seriously, and they often have great ideas. 

 When information changes (for example, with AIDS PSA's, where new treatments are being developed all the time), change your PSA's as soon as possible. 

 Contact the station(s) playing it and get them to stop running old material, and produce new PSA's with updated information as quickly as you can.  

Once you've gotten approval for your PSA 

 After you've gotten an agreement to run your PSA from a radio or television station, find out the day and time that it will start playing. 

 Your contact may not be the same person who actually schedules the spots, so if necessary ask him or her who is in charge of scheduling and then contact that person. 

 Listen to or watch the station for the first airing to make sure your PSA is shown (and that it is shown correctly). 

 Follow up by sending a thank you note and, if you can, some small token of your gratitude, such as a certificate of appreciation or an invitation to one of your group's events. 

 Do keep in mind that your spot might not run exactly at the time that your contact says it will. PSA schedules are always subject to change. 

Reference: 

 Media Literacies – A critical Introduction  

 Wikipedia