Public Service Announcements

When the information is carried in the form of a free advertisement, it is known as a public service announcement, or PSA. In order to get their broadcast licenses renewed, commercial stations must demonstrate that they have provided the public service of distribut­ing useful information to the community from government agencies, charities, and community betterment groups.

Often the PSA is as expensively produced as any paid advertisement and arrives from national organiza­tions such as those organized to raise research funds to combat dis­eases or social problems.

Usually only nonprofit groups may expect to get PSAs on the air, because they should expect to hear it aired mainly in time periods when paid advertising cannot be sold—which is to say, when only some segments of the radio audience are listening.

PSAs are limited in their impact. They alone are not likely to cause long-term behavior changes. They are most useful for creating awareness or heightening the public's sensitivity to a health problem or issue.

 

Talk Shows

Radio must fill endless hours with sound, and one of the cheapest sources of programming is the listener call-in show. The format varies widely. Sometimes, the host announces one or more topics for the day; Other times, it's "open mike." Typically, the participants call in, are placed briefly on hold, then go on the air with a seven-second tape de­lay, which permits the station to cut off profanity or slander.

The programs can serve a public relations function. Thus, many or­ganizations assign at least one well-informed member to monitor each broadcast. That way, if the conversation turns to gun control, birth con­trol, self-control, or whatever falls within the purview of the organiza­tion, an opportunity is provided to offer the group's standard line:

"This is Elissa Dandridge from the Lee County Adoption Service... I'd just like to reply to the woman who called earlier to say that she had heard there is a two-year wait for adoption. Fortunately, that isn't the case if the party is willing to consider adopting a minority child or a child with a minor birth defect. Anyone who is interested should call this number for information about adoption..."

Some radio talk shows use guest panelists to begin the discussion and act as respondents to the callers. Government and social agencies can take the opportunity to get their views across by providing pan­elists. When topics are announced in advance, it may also be useful to assign members of your organization to join the ranks of the callers. Your organization may be able to suggest topics for discussion and provide spokespersons for the specific programs.

 

Journalists and copywriters who are practiced at writing for the eye eventually must learn that writing for the ear is something quite differ­ent. Rarely is a message that appeared in print directly translatable to the audio media. Because time is money, audio messages must be more economical. And they must be written in a more conversational style rather than following the more formal structure required by print.

At its simplest, the radio spot consists merely of an announcer speaking. Every radio station is prepared to have an announcer read any ma­terial that is accepted for airing. Many stations also are willing to help advertisers, and perhaps even nonprofit organizations, to add other elements to improve a spot, including voices of actors or "real people" previously taped or recorded in the studio. Most stations have a library of sound effects.

These basic elements are readily available for the simple PSA or commercial spot. But don't expect your local station to help you produce slick spots. Those award-winning spots are created in special studios with a director and a battery of en­gineers, and then distributed in recorded form to individual stations.

 

Getting It Timed Right

Once the basic sound elements have been selected, the critical limiting factor is time.

Usually, different versions of the radio spot are written to fit the vari­ous standard time slots, from sixty seconds down to ten seconds. In the case of the paid announcement, cost savings can be realized by intro­ducing the campaign with full 60-second spots, and then achieving the desired repetition using 30- or 20-second spots that contain all of the main elements but that have been condensed.

When a nonprofit organization prepares PSAs, it is a good idea to offer 10-, 20-, 30-, and 60-second versions so a station can choose the versions that best fit its format.

 

Here, for example, are different versions of the same PSA written for the George Street Playhouse, a re­gional nonprofit professional theater:

ANNCR: The spotlight is on the George Street Playhouse. Make sure you get the best seat in the house. Subscribe now. Call 246-7717. (10 sec)

ANNCR: The spotlight is on the George Street Playhouse. You'll see Tobacco Road, Jacques Brel, Private Lives, Shakespeare, and two great new American plays. Subscribers have the best seats in the house. To reserve your season tickets, call 246-7717 now. (20 sec)

ANNCR: The spotlight is on the George Street Playhouse.

The season begins in September with Tobacco Road. You'll thrill to the delightful musical Jacques Brel. Rounding out the season are Noel Coward's wonderful and witty Private Lives, William Shakespeare's moving Henry the Fourth, plus two great new American plays. Our subscribers enjoy the best seats in the house. Reserve your season tickets now. Don't wait. Call 246-7717. (30 sec)

Notice that the extra time is not used to make quantum jumps in the amount of information, but rather to flesh out the basic ideas of the shorter spots by offering more adjectives, filling in a few particulars, and engaging in greater familiarity with the listener.

 

Time constraints dictate that most radio stations must be selective about which PSAs they use. The main reasons for rejecting a PSA are:

1. The material is too dry or dull.