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This document is designed to assist you, your club,
your agency or other organization in the preparation and distribution of Public Service Announcements (PSAs).
While PSAs are often aired free by electronic media, many end up in the wastebasket before
they're broadcast because they are hard to read, have basic information missing, or are
sent too far in advance of the event. We'll give you a few pointers, followed by a simple
form which can be filled out and submitted to us. (Please
read "5." below before PSA submission.) 1. Include All Necessary Information While this may seem like a
simple thing, you would be surprised to see the number of PSAs we receive which do not
have a date for the event. They'll say "tonight," for example, but even if the
PSA arrives via email or fax, we are uncertain of which night "tonight"
it is. Include who
is invited to attend, the date and hours of the event, the place where
it will be held, the type of event, why it is taking place, and a
contact number for both the public and the media. Keep it short. Long,
full-page PSAs are rarely read due to time constraints.
2. Identify Yourself or Organization You should always identify yourself or
organization clearly somewhere in your PSA. In many cases, this is evident from the
information -- however, if is not, you should include it somewhere on the page.
3. Phonetic Pronunciations Many PSAs are skipped-over by broadcasters because names or places
mentioned in them cannot be easily pronounced. Rather than sound illiterate or
out-of-touch, announcers will often toss a PSA that does not include a phonetic
pronunciation for easily confused proper names. Smith is Smith, for instance, but
Smithe could be SMITH, SMYTH of SMITHEE. Without a guide, you'll either have a
mispronounced name in your PSA when it's read on the air, or it won't get on the air at
all. The proper way to show pronunciation is, for example, Smithee (pron: SMYTH'-EE).
4. Release Date It may seem like sending a PSA out to the electronic media as early as possible
is the right way to go. But, much like sending out party invitations, "too
early" can be detrimental. File folders fill up, events off the radar get pushed to the back, or the
public loses interest before the event arrives. A good rule of thumb for electronic media
is sending out your PSAs no sooner than a week before the event. And, do not
include more than one date-specific event in each PSA! Multiple event PSAs are difficult
to file chronologically and often get round-filed after information about the first event
is broadcast.
Also, TFNs (or ongoing PSAs) rarely if ever get broadcast because we can hardly
keep up with the date-specific events. Always tie your PSA to a specific
date.
5. Cost of broadcast
As a general rule we are happy to broadcast -- at no charge -- meeting and event
notices for civic and non-profit groups, or commercial organizations holding
fundraising events for charitable causes. However, if you purchase
advertising in other media we cannot air your announcements free of charge.
(There is a misconception that because the FCC governs the technical aspects of
radio, that we are somehow obligated to run free advertising for public service
entities. The truth is, if you pay to put an ad in the paper or elsewhere,
please don't
ask us to run it for free. We're a business, too.)
6. Raffles Under Alaska state law, we
are unable to promote raffles or other games of chance on the air, so please do
not include them in your announcement. Also, avoid "door prizes" in your
submission if you charge admission to an event (an admission fee
constitutes "consideration," whereby a person must pay for the chance to win a
prize). If your event is free to the public, this falls under the heading "no
purchase necessary to win" and door (and other) prizes are allowed.
7. Submission
Send your PSA to KINY using our
SUBMISSION FORM.
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