Dave’s Take

For the majority of my life I’ve watched Public Service Announcements (aka-PSAs) on my television warning me of the dangers of everything from smoking to dropping out of school. Some of the most memorable PSAs are as burned into my brain as much as any book or movie I’ve enjoyed. Who can forget the anti-liter campaign featuring an actual Native American Chief with a tear in his eye as he witnesses the destruction of his land by litterbugs? How about the series of spots reminding viewers to wear their seatbelts featuring the world famous Crash Test Dummies? Every time I see an old Perry Mason rerun, I think of the powerful anti-smoking PSA made by William Talman shortly before he died of lung cancer.

Despite their effectiveness and backing from the National Ad Council, the American broadcast PSA has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur. While once protected by law, the public service announcement of the 21st century is now mostly confined to paid placement. Thanks to the removal of regulations during the Reagan administration, television and radio stations are no longer bound by law to provide a certain percentage of their airtime for free to PSAs. Despite the proliferation of cable and satellite channels, the powers that be apparently find PSAs to be too intrusive to the profitability of broadcasters. And that’s a shame.

We need well produced PSAs as a daily reminder of the kind of important issues we are all too busy to think about or to teach others, including our children. A properly produced PSA can cut through clutter and can leave a lasting impression on viewers, especially young viewers. If anyone doubts this, they only need look to the cutting edge anti-smoking campaign that has been running since the big tobacco companies settled with the government. The “Truth” PSAs have been incredibly successful in cutting teenage smoking in the states that have funded their airing. The reason for their success? Truth. They don’t lecture or depend on the claims of exaggerated side effects like the ineffective anti-drug campaigns of the past. They show smoking like it is – a filthy, dirty habit that will eventually kill you.

Despite their success, the majority of young viewers will never see the Truth spots because their states elected to steal the tobacco settlement money they received and divert it to funding the daily expenses of government. This is just one more example of a bureaucratic blunder that has a direct and deleterious impact on the daily lives of Americans. The public needs to demand a return of mandated funding and airing of Pubic Service Announcements. They are a proven method of bettering our lives without having to reinvent the wheel.