Page 32 RAIN Spring 1986 SPECIAL PULL-OUT SECTION: newspaper. In smaller communities, it is important to focus your news release on a local person's involvement or relationship to your activity or event 10) News stories, feature stories, and calendars of events are the main avenues of access to newspapers. You may want to consider purchasing an advertisement to make sure your information appears. Remember, paid advertising does hot guarantee your news story, feature, or calendar announcement will appear in print Radio Public Service Announcements 1) Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are timed the same length as commercials: 10-, 20-, 60-second spots, because they are programmed along with commercial announcements. 2) 20-second spots are a good standard. 3) When writing your PSA, remember radio is a linear medium, the listener cannot go back to check a point of fact. Uncomplicated messages will be remembered. 4) When typing your PSA, give a contact person and telephone number, date the announcement, and give a kill date (the last day the PSA should be aired). Title it Public Service Announcement Use all capital letters, double space. When including difficult-to-pronounce names, use phonetic pronunciations inside of parentheses. 5) Some stations like their announcers to deliver the PSAs live in their own styles. Send a copy of your press release along with your PSA. If the station wants to use a pre-writtem PSA, they have it. If they want to add more information and present it in their own style, they have a press release they can rely on. 6) Many stations that have announcers who do live PSAs put the announcement on 3x5 notecards which get rotated. For a guideline, a PSA typed double-spaced on a 3x5 card is about a 30-second spot (about 75 words; 25 words for 10 seconds, 50 words for 20 seconds, 150 words for 60 seconds). 7) Some stations pre-record PSAs. Some stations want local voices. They prefer community organizations wanting to air PSAs to appoint a representative to come to the studio and record it. (This is more the exception than the norm.) 8) Many if not most radio stations prefer local PSAs. They would rather run a local spot than a national, regional, or statewide PSA. If you are distributing other than local PSAs, a station will prefer to air it if there is a local office or contact. This is called local “tag.” 9) Listen to the radio. Pay attention to the kind of music the various stations play, the commercials they run, how they handle public service announcements, and the kinds of audiences they attract 10) Learn what kind of public service/public affairs programming radio stations do, whether it's talk shows, call-ins, guest interviews, new reports, or documentaries. In some of the small markets, stations are looking for ideas for new public affairs shows. Talk with your local station if you have a program idea; you might be surprised at the response. Television Public Service Announcements 1) When planning PSAs for television, think visual. 2) Calendar announcements with the five Ws appearing as words on the screen, which the TV station superimposes over a background tape accompanied by music, are the easiest Send a fact sheet, including basic information, the admission charge, name, and telephone number of a contact person, to the public affairs department or to “Calendar.” It's a good idea to send along a press release for further information. 3) Color slides are a useful, inexpensive way to get your message on television. A single slide might contain lettering (name of organization and phone number) accompanied by either a graphic or photograph to announce a program or event It is important to have a go<^ graphics person create your slide, for a great deal can be conveyed on just one slide. Accompany the slide with a 10-second script and a press release. Slides can be easily reproduced to send to more than one station. It's a good idea to call the public affairs department before you send or deliver the slide and script 4) More elaborate video PSAs can be a series of slides, with a voice over, transferred to videotape. Contact the station if you are contemplating such a public service announcement 5) TV stations have limited time to offer nonprofit organizations assistance in preparing PSAs. TV production time goes into news shows, local productions, and commercials. PSAs are a low production priority. 6) If you are submitting a preproduced videotape, send along a script. All tapes have to be previewed by station personnel before airing, and scripts are helpful. 7) Contact the public affairs department well in advance if you are planning a publicity campaign. If you can interest them in your organization's event, you may get assistance thinking through an announcement. 8) For television news coverage, ask yourself: Is your event newsworthy? Is your event visually interesting? Send a copy of your press release to the TV station's news director well in advance. Follow-up with a call and suggestions for film possibilities. 9) Sometimes TV stations are willing to help sponsor an event—if it holds wide appeal and interest to the station's viewers. 10) Watch television; pay attention to the kinds of public affairs programs that are produced. Cable Television Cable television is another possible avenue. Local origination channels often have bulletin boards that cany public service announcements. Local origination programming (produced by the cable company) and/or community access programming (produced by the public) may also be used to publicize community events. Contact your local cable company to find out what resources it may offer. GOOD LUCK!
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