PSAs Explained

What are PSAs?
Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are short, “non-commercial” announcements prepared to provide information to the public. A non-commercial announcement contains information that benefits its intended audience, rather than the company that created it. For example, a PSA that provides health information differs from an ad that promotes the sale of a health product. Consequently, most PSAs are produced by nonprofit organizations, but commercial, for-profit organizations may also use them to promote nonprofit activities and events.

PSAs are available to community associations, advocate groups, nonprofit free or low cost public events and for-profit organizations that are promoting community-based nonprofit events.

PSAs are used by organizations to:

• Promote nonprofit activities and events of general interest to the WRIR community
• Provide short, educational information and facts
• Publicize community events
• Provide health and safety tips
• Assist in fundraising efforts

PSAs:

• DO contain information that is beneficial to the community
• DO contain a public phone number, web address, and/or email address for further information
• DO NOT typically announce fundraising events for the financial benefit of the sponsoring organization
• DO NOT endorse, promote, or call to action. Phrases that directly advocate participation such as “BE THERE” or “JOIN US”, are forbidden unless the phrase is as a personal appeal. For example: “This is Michael Franti. Please join me on December 15th for…” In that case, the person making the appeal will be liable for any possible litigation surrounding such a message.

All PSAs aired on 97.3 WRIR must meet federal and local rules and regulations. PSAs that do not meet these guidelines and standards will not be aired on WRIR.
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How long can my group’s PSA be?
WRIR is currently only accepting PSAs of 30 seconds in length. This generally translates into 80 words or less.
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When will I hear my group’s PSA aired on your station?
All PSAs are aired at “announcer’s discretion”, which means announcers select PSAs based on the program and other on-air material occurring at the time. Guaranteed scheduling of your PSA is only possible through the purchasing of underwriting time. Please contact [email protected]  for more information on underwriting opportunities.
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What are the different ways to create a PSA for my group?
Read-Aloud Script:
Your organization can provide WRIR with a PSA script that can be read by any of the station’s DJ’s, employees or guests. Please ensure that the script can be reasonably read within 30 seconds. If you are announcing a scheduled or regularly occurring event, be sure to include your organization’s name, a contact person and/or number, and any pertinent information on dates and locations within the 30 seconds. Because the scripts are being read by WRIR volunteers, please do not use first person pronouns such as “us” or “our”.

Audio:
Audio PSAs produced by your organization may be as simple as having someone record a scripted message on audio tape; you can also incorporate music and sound effects. You can submit the PSA pre-recorded on a CD or as an MP3 file. All audio PSAs must be of broadcast quality to be considered for airplay.
All contributors must include a “kill date” for their PSA submissions, or a date that tells WRIR when to stop airing your message. This will help WRIR to ensure that we broadcast PSAs only for current events.

How soon do I need to contact WRIR to create/air my group’s PSA for a planned community event
“Read-Aloud” and pre-recorded PSA submissions must be received at least 2 weeks before the event is scheduled to take place. Submissions may be submitted by mail or email (see below for contact information).

Can PSAs be aired for our fund raising efforts?
Typically, PSAs do not include announcements of fundraising events held for the financial benefit of the sponsoring organization, even if the events are fun. You may want to utilize underwriting as a means to publicize your fundraiser on WRIR. As a WRIR underwriter, you or your organization can target & schedule your message and support WRIR.  Please contact [email protected] or 804-622-9747 for more information on underwriting opportunities.

All right, how do I get started on submitting my PSA?
To start the process, fill out this form: WRIR PSAs Submission
or mail a submission to:
PSA Coordinator
WRIR Richmond Independent Radio
P.O. Box 4787
Richmond, VA 23220

To follow up on your request, email our volunteer at [email protected]

WRIR airs PSAs at its sole discretion and reserves the right to edit or not air submissions. However, know that WRIR takes its PSA program very seriously and is proud of this no-cost method for the community to share information with the rest of us.