Over the years I’ve built up quite a pile of amateur radio magazines, and I’ve decided that it’s time for them to go. Before pitching them, however, I’ve been paging through them to see if there’s anything of interest. I found this article in the June 2006 issue of World Radio. I contacted the author, Kelly, K7SU, and he’s given me his permission to re-publish it here.
This seems like a great way to get publicity for your club. I emailed a couple of local stations this morning, and I’ve already received a positive reply from WCBN, the student-run, alternative broadcast station here in Ann Arbor, MI.
How to “Spread the Word” about Amateur Radio
Kelly Klaas, K7SU
I have been in radio broadcasting since 1969 and an amateur radio operator since 1966. During my time in broadcasting I have learned a few things about how the public can use the media to its advantage. It’s not as difficult as you may think.
The trick is to think of your local, amateur radio club as a non-profit public service organization. And in fact, that’s exactly what it is. Every commercial broadcast station must justify its license to operate by broadcasting in the public interest and providing a certain amount of public service. That public service includes local programming dealing with issues of local public interest and availability to local non-profit organizations. The best vehicle for amateur radio clubs to use that broadcast stations have to offer is the Public Service Announcement, or PSA.
A PSA can come in a couple of forms. It can be a brief announcement of an upcoming club event or it can be an announcement of normally fifteen, thirty, or sixty seconds in length describing your club and the benefits it has to offer. If you listen to the standard broadcast stations very much you undoubtedly have heard them. These announcements are free of charge to non-profit groups. But the key here is “non-profit.” Commercial broadcast stations are required to air a certain amount of public service ads to remain in the good graces of the FCC.
PSAs can benefit your local ham club in at least three ways. First, they let the local hams and the public in general know that there is a local club and about the various activities you may have going. Second, for those who may be interested in becoming a ham, it lets them know that there is help nearby. Third, even if the listener is not interested in becoming a ham, it boosts the awareness that there are ham radio operators in the vicinity ready to pitch
in if emergency communications should be needed.
But how do you go about getting a PSA for your very own amateur radio club on your local stations? It’s quite easy, actually. Most radio and TV stations have public service directors, or at least someone who coordinates the PSAs and other public service programs. Some stations do a better job at this than others. A representative of your local amateur radio club should contact the area stations and find out who that person is. Then they should contact this person and see what the requirements are for sending in the information. Then DO IT!
Most any ham club activity is certainly a valid reason to get an announcement on the air. Many radio and TV stations have a “daily calendar” type of program. This is the perfect place to start. Send to the appropriate station personnel the “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” and “why” of the club activity for inclusion in these types of programs. Keep it short and to the point and always include an email address, web site or local phone number so the listener can get more information. Do NOT send in a multi-page document and expect the PSA director to go through it and pick out the pertinent information. That’s NOT going to happen. Use short and “to the point” descriptions for each of the categories. One or two contacts are enough. You don’t need a list of all the people in your club along with emails and phone numbers. Also, leave your contact information for the station personnel in case they need to contact you. You never know, they might want to pass it along to the news or public affairs department if it’s a good subject for a story.
Another type of PSA is simply a short message, similar to a commercial, for your club. These vary in length but are usually 15, 30 or 60 seconds long. These take a little more thought in order for them to be of interest to the local radio/TV station.
Depending on the radio/TV stations in your area it will be more of an effort to get them interested in running this type of announcement. But if you wrote the PSA for them and offered to help in any way you might find they would be agreeable to running your announcement as a stand-alone ad. If they would rather have station personnel voice the PSA then let them. If they would rather have someone from the club voice it with their help, then that should be fine also. The name of the game here is to get the message of your local amateur radio club on the air and to the public. Don’t be discouraged if you are not as successful with this level of cooperation at first. It will vary from station to station.
You may be wondering just when the PSAs will be broadcast. Many radio stations these days carry satellite programming at various times of the day. These programs always have a certain number of two, three or four (maybe more) minute breaks for the local stations to insert their local ads. If there aren’t enough sold commercials to fill the breaks then they have to use PSAs. Many times these are national PSAs that deal with anything from teen pregnancy to housing discrimination. Quite frankly many stations run these national PSAs due to a lack of anything else to run and they may or may not even be applicable to their area. Many radio stations would much rather fill with LOCAL announcements. That’s where your local club could help.
Do not inundate the station with multiple pages of announcements. Start with a single 15- or 30-second PSA. It usually takes a very good PSA to keep a listener tuned in for over thirty-seconds. Besides, you don’t want the radio station thinking you are trying to take over their airwaves. And a clever 15-second announcement will be more effective than a boring, rambling 60-second announcement.
Keep in mind that it’s usually best to approach the radio/TV station first for this type of PSA. They may not be interested at all so there is no point in wasting your time preparing one. But, if they should show an interest, be sure you oblige them in a short period of time before they change their mind.
Due to the nature of the broadcast business you may find that one or two folks on the staff are also amateur radio operators. This is especially true in the engineering department. Many a chief engineer around the country is a ham. If you happen to know any radio engineers in your area you may want to start with them. They may have a fast-track and an inside shortcut to getting your PSA on the air. For that matter, if you know ANYONE who works at a local station, start with them. It’s not WHAT you know but rather WHO you know.
PSAs are free. The broadcast stations get no money for running them. Therefore a sold commercial always takes top priority. Your PSA may be scheduled to run, but at the last minute is booted out by a sold commercial. Don’t let this bother you. It’s the name of the game. Commercial radio/TV stations make their money by selling ads. If not for that, we wouldn’t have local radio/TV stations. Your announcement will eventually make it on the air. Use the “daily calendar” program to advertise scheduled club activities. Use the recorded PSA for a long-term method of promoting your club. It should be somewhat generic in nature without time-sensitive material. Also, be willing to change it from time to time to keep it fresh.
Be sure to let your local news organizations know about any public activities that may warrant a news story or a spot on the evening news. This can include public displays for Field Day or similar events. Stories of local amateur radio operators talking to the 188 are always interesting fodder that the local media would like to cover. Let them know about it.
You will find varying degrees of interest and cooperation with your local stations regarding announcements for your club. Again, probably the easiest and quickest way to get your announcement on is if they have a “daily calendar” program. The “commercial” announcement I talked about will be your most difficult hurdle, but don’t give up. You may not have any trouble at all. The idea is to use your local broadcast stations to your benefit as much as you can for as much as they are willing to let you use them. Even a little bit may be much better than what you are getting now.
If you would like more pointers or advice you can email me at [email protected].