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Public service advertising aims to improve public welfare by addressing issues such as health, safety, community participation, and disaster preparedness. It is disseminated through various traditional and electronic media channels and is used to warn of dangers, advise during disasters, and encourage citizen activism. Laws in advanced nations require broadcasters to devote resources to public service announcements.
The different types of public service advertising are generally classified according to the issues addressed in the ads, which generally seek to improve the public welfare. This advertising often focuses on issues that threaten public health and safety, encourage community participation necessary for an informed, civilized society, and herald gateways to public resources. In the United States and other advanced nations with developed communications infrastructures, laws generally encourage granting access to these channels to those non-profit organizations that work for the public good. Governments also produce public service announcements to warn of dangers and advise the public during disasters.
Public service advertising is often disseminated through numerous channels, including various forms of traditional media as well as electronic media. The welfare of the public is the central theme of virtually all public service advertising. Public welfare issues include personal safety, access to community resources, and the encouragement of a vigorous level of community participation. This is especially true in democratic nations. Increasing public awareness of how to create a safer environment can occur through advertising that illustrates and repeats important warnings.
A considerable proportion of public service announcements are aimed at improving public health and are used in many countries around the world. This type of advertising warns the public of dangers to a person’s health, such as smoking cigarettes. They also include advertisements encouraging people to get preventative disease screenings, and many offer toll-free telephone numbers or website addresses. Other public health advertisements warn of sexually transmitted diseases, and still others consist of major advertising campaigns aimed at prevent violent deaths. These include suicide prevention ads that list warning signs of suicidal behavior and firearm safety campaigns.
Another type of public service advertising seeks to increase disaster preparedness within communities. This is often used in advance of an approaching hurricane, for example, or in areas where tsunamis or earthquakes are expected to occur in the future. In times of violent events, such as terrorist attacks, this type of advertising can be an important part of providing vital advice to citizens on how to access essential resources.
Public service advertising that seeks to enhance community participation can be seen as an important factor in maintaining a vigorous democratic system of government. These ads can also encourage citizens to come together in difficult times, such as when a government’s ability to help the citizenry is compromised. Reminders to vote through public announcements, encourage citizen activism in crime prevention, and keep citizens informed are other purposes of this type of public service advertising. In the United States and other advanced nations, there are many laws that require broadcasters to devote a certain amount of their resources to keeping the public informed through public service announcements.
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