League of Women Voters- Chautauqua County NYLeague members worked successfully for enactment of the Social Security and Food and Drug Acts, as well as the TVA. In 1. 93. 4, when federal and state government agencies were hiring thousands of employees to administer the new social and eco- nomic laws, the League launched a nationwide campaign in support of the merit system for selecting government personnel. In those years the League was the only national organization acting consistently for the merit system. And due, at least in part, to League efforts, legislation passed in 1. Communications to Promote Interest . Preparing Public Service Announcements . This is your brain on drugs. Let's fight like a bear to keep. Let's fight like a bear to keep our rights! Image from Deedee Cheriel: https://www. These widely recognized slogans from national public service announcement campaigns by the Ad Council have become a part of our culture. While the above examples were all big- budget campaigns, your own organization's public service announcements (also known as PSA's) - - even if they're a small, locally- produced campaign - - can be a great inexpensive way to get your message out to the public. What is a public service announcement? Public service announcements, or PSA's, are short messages produced on film, videotape, DVD, CD, audiotape, or as a computer file and given to radio and television stations. 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. The Government is out of touch with the reality that fewer people are going off the benefit and into employment or study, says Labour’s Social Development. GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE FORUMS The League of Women Voters Guidelines for Nonpartisan Candidate Meetings. Candidate meetings provide a public service. Big Hollywood covers – and uncovers -- the glitz and glamour of the Hollywood left with reviews, interviews, and inside scoops about your favorite entertainment. Please support HANO's work to strengthen the nonprofit sector with a donation through JustGive.org. PORT TOWNSEND — The American Association of University Women-Port Townsend is seeking nominations for the 2017 Woman of Excellence Award. Nominations are due Nov. LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF HAWAI. We are just a few days from Election Day 2016. There is no question this election is incredibly consequential and voters have much at stake, not the least of which is. Broadcast media - - radio and television - - are required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to serve . While they aren't required to donate a fixed percentage of air time per day to PSA's, stations do have to state in their licensing and renewal applications how much air time they plan to devote to PSA's. Most stations donate about a third of their commercial spots to non- commercial causes; in other words, if a station has 1. PSA's. 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 . You may not be able to count on getting a lot of air time for your PSA's. Stations tend to shy away from . 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. When should you consider using PSA's? Here are some guidelines for deciding when you might want to incorporate PSA's into your media campaign. Keep in mind that you don't necessarily have to meet all of these criteria - - this is just a list of times that PSA's may be a good idea for your group: When your group is a nonprofit organization. When you have a specific announcement to make (for example, the time and place of a meeting or event). When you have a clear and easy- to- understand issue. When you're requesting a very specific action. When you have good contacts for getting your PSA on the air. When you have good writing and production skills. When you've previously used PSA's with success. When it's going to be part of a larger media campaign. How do you write a PSA? Decide upon and clarify the purpose of your PSA. What are your goals here? What do you want to accomplish by putting a PSA on the air? And for that matter, why use a PSA instead of other publicity outlets? Target your audience. What type of people are you hoping to reach through your PSA? This will help you focus in both your desired media outlets, and also upon your PSA content. Survey your media outlets to best reach that audience. That means that you need to know what media outlets are available in your particular geographic area. Prioritize your media outlets. That is, you need to know which outlets your target audience is most likely to prefer. For example, is your audience more likely to tune in to the 2. If so, then you point toward the country music outlet. Also, when does your audience tend to tune in to these outlets? For example, is your desired audience a bunch of early risers? Then you'd probably want to reach them early in the morning, as opposed to late at night, if you possibly can. However, don't count on being able to pick the time of day for your PSA to run. That's why getting to know your media personnel is so important - - it's easier to ask a favor of someone you know. Approach your preferred media outlets. Here you want to make a personal contact, as best you can, directly with the station manager in small markets, or with the person who's responsible for choosing PSA's for broadcast. A phone call is good; a personal meeting is better. Find out a bit about their requirements for PSA's - - what format they want to receive them in, preferred length, when to submit them, etc. The actual writing waits until this point, because you first need to know your audience, your markets, and their policies. Key points to remember about the writing: Because you've only got a few seconds to reach your audience (often 3. Take your time and make every word count. Make your message crystal clear. The content of the writing should have the right . For example, starting your PSA off with something like, . You ordinarily want listeners to do something as a result of having heard the PSA. Getting ready to write your PSA: Choose points to focus on. Don't overload the viewer or listener with too many different messages. List all the possible messages you'd like to get into the public mind, and then decide on the one or two most vital points. For example, if your group educates people about asthma, you might narrow it down to a simple focus point like, . This is also a good time to look at the PSA's that others have done for ideas. Get together with your colleagues to toss around ideas about ways you can illustrate the main point(s) you've chosen. If possible, include members of your target group in this process. If you're aiming your PSA at African- American youth, for example, be sure to invite some African- American youth to take part in brainstorming. Check your facts. It's extremely important for your PSA to be accurate. Any facts should be checked and verified before sending the PSA in. Is the information up to date? If there are any demonstrations included in the PSA, are they done clearly and correctly? Identify a . A hook is whatever you use to grab the listener or viewer's attention. How are you going to keep them from changing the channel or leaving the room or letting their attention drift when your PSA comes on? A hook can be something funny, it can be catchy music, it can be a shocking statistic, it can be an emotional appeal - - whatever makes the listener or viewer interested enough to watch or listen to the rest of your PSA. For example, if you're aiming for Hispanic listeners, your hook might be to have your PSA use Tejano or salsa background music. Now you're ready to write your script! Basic guidelines for PSA format: Most stations prefer 3. If you're writing a television PSA, you'll want to keep the announcer's copy 2 or 3 seconds shorter than the entire length of the PSA. Television stations run on a much tighter, more rigid schedule than radio stations, and you may find that if your PSA runs exactly 3. Length of PSA1. 0 seconds. Number of words. 20- 2. Your copy should be typed, double or triple- spaced. You can put more than one spot per page for the shorter ones, but with 3. The top of the sheet should list: how long the PSA should run (i. While live copy is inexpensive and is used extensively in radio, television stations rarely use live copy scripts. Below is an example of a live copy PSA script for radio. Two longer scripts - - one for radio and one for television - - are shown with the other examples at the end of this section. Sample radio PSA script - - live copy. Use: Imnediate: TFNTime: 2. Agency: Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Title: . AIDS has taken more than 3. It could happen to someone you love. Turn on your radio or TV on June 2. Day of Compassion. Be compassionate.###If you can get help from an outside professional or somebody who has radio/television experience, this is a good time to do so. He or she can review your work for you and offer suggestions. It won't take much time, since PSA's are so short. Pretesting your script is always a good idea. Find some people who are members of your target audience, show them or let them read the script for the PSA, and ask them for critical feedback. In addition to members of your target audience, you might also want to ask health professionals and activists, teachers, and religious leaders to take part in pretesting. It doesn't have to be a big, hairy, formal process. Whatever amount of time you spend pretesting will almost always pay off in greater effectiveness of your PSA. Now you have a script that's ready to go! If you're just making live copy scripts, you can skip the next part (. Generally, it's not a good idea to produce it yourself unless you're sure you can do a professional- quality job. Everyone has seen or heard at least a few badly produced local PSA's in their time; you know it can negatively affect your opinion of an organization. If you can't be certain you can do a genuinely good job of it, you shouldn't attempt to produce your own PSA. But don't despair!
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