Public Service Announcements (PSA) Policy

KSQD Community Radio will broadcast Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) and entertainment related calendar events from non-profit, government, and community organizations who want to publicize their services or events.

PSA’s are first processed by the KSQD PSA Director, who determines if the announcement meets the guidelines set forth in this policy. If the guidelines have been met, the PSA Director will place the PSA in a queue to be announced on the air. PSA’s will be rejected if they do not follow the Guidelines.

Unlike underwriting announcements, PSA’s are not scheduled in advance or paired with a specific program. Our programmers review the pending PSA’s, select and read PSA’s throughout their program, and log that the announcement aired.

PSA Selection Guidelines:

• PSA’s must be sent at least 21 days prior to the event date. KSQD will not accept any PSA for events that are a week away.
• For-profit organizations and commercial businesses will be directed to the underwriting page at ksqd.org/underwriting.
• PSA’s are only accepted from non-profit, government, and community organizations for the purpose of alerting people to information, events, and services of community interest.
• Announcements must be 30 seconds or less.
• Announcements may not contain a call-to-action. For example, instead of “Join us at thisevent…” use the passive “This event takes place on…”
• Announcements cannot refer to prices, discounts, or sales of any kind. Announcements may tell listeners where tickets are available for an event or where to go for additional information. Words such as “free,” “sale,” “discount,” and other references to prices or values are absolutely prohibited. If an event is free, use “This event is open to the public.”
• Announcements should direct listeners to phone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses as needed.
• Announcements must be dated, with a start date and end date for broadcasting.
• Announcements must include contact phone numbers and email addresses for follow up ifneeded.
• KSQD does not promote fundraisers, unless it can be promoted strictly as an event. For example, a concert to raise money for service organization may be promoted, and must contain a brief statement in the body of the announcement indicating who will benefit.