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Tips on How to Air a Public Service Announcement (PSA)

There’s no denying the power of the media. In a matter of seconds, an image or a story can alter our perception and even manage to change our lives. If we as animal advocates are to be successful in making our voices heard, then we have to learn to harness the power of the airwaves. While it may be impossible for most of us to compete directly with the multi-million-dollar advertising budgets of animal agriculture industries, there is a way that we can reach thousands of people through television and radio that is simple, effective and free.

Public Service Announcements, or PSAs, are non-commercial advertisements that serve to raise the public’s awareness about specific issues – in our case, to draw attention to farm animal abuse and to highlight the benefits of a veg diet. You can check out our television and radio PSAs and determine which one you would like to place in your local community.

Once you’ve decided on which media you plan on using (radio or television), you can take the appropriate steps to get your PSA aired.

Radio. There are three Farm Sanctuary radio PSAs to choose from, and although they were created to be aired around Earth Day, their message can be played at any time of the year. Take a listen and decide which PSA you want to air.

Step 1. Contact the Public Affairs/Community Relations Manager/Public Service Director at your local radio stations via e-mail. Briefly explain why the PSA is important to air, how it is relevant to your community, and provide your contact information. Be sure to ask for free placement.

Step 2. Follow up on your e-mail request with a phone call a few hours later. Confirm that your e-mail was received and ask if the station would like a copy of the PSA.

Step 3. Most stations can accept PSAs via e-mail so you can easily take a PSA file from our Web site and attach it to an e-mail or just send them the link so they can download it themselves. If the radio station requests a CD, you can either copy the file to a CD or contact us so we can send one to the radio station for you as soon as possible.

Television. Most cable companies in the U.S. offer programming opportunities to individuals and organizations through public access channels. Farm Sanctuary can provide you with a number of PSAs featuring famous animal advocates such as Persia White, Casey Affleck and Corey Feldman. These brief educational videos are a great way to educate your community about farm animal issues.

Step 1. Call your local cable company to find out if public access airtime is available in your community and what you need to do to secure a slot.

Step 2. Download the PSA from our Web site.

Step 3. Pick a time-slot when you think the PSA will reach your target audience and fill out the necessary paperwork.

Radio and TV stations receive a lot of PSAs, and they pick and choose which ones they play. If you can get the PSA on the air – fantastic! If you have any questions, or if your PSA gets aired, please contact us at activist@farmsanctuary.org.

Give the animals a voice…get a PSA aired today!

For more details and tips on airing PSAs and other videos on public access cable stations click here.