Submissions
PSA Submission Guidelines
A PSA, or public service announcement, is a short, informative message traditionally relayed by media outlets in the public interest. PSAs are provided by local institutions and are intended to raise awareness and promote opportunities to enhance quality of life. They are relevant to the KPTZ audience and typically include health and safety, charity, and community events.
PSAs are not advertisements and are not underwriting messages. They do not market a product or an endeavor.
KPTZ considers submissions that:
- provide a service and/or benefit to the community, are relevant to our geographic area,
- are not related to candidates running for political office, have a political agenda or directly represent a specific religious denomination, faith, or point of view.
- do not solicit funds, solicit volunteers to solicit funds, or promote a “members only” event.
In addition, KPTZ prioritizes available PSA spots to organizations that:
- are providing a distinct public service
- are from a 501 (c)(3) non‐profit
If you qualify, here’s what to do:
Write an announcement that is about 15 seconds long. This usually comes out to 45 words. Your announcement will be recorded here at the studio.
It cannot use qualitative language as (“this unjust war,” “award-winning jazz trio,” “unbeatable service”) However, if an individual or a group has received a specific and well-known award, that may be included.
It cannot mention prices or discounts of any kind. It cannot say that something is “free” or that “donations are accepted.” You may, however, say something like “proceeds from this event benefit such and such” or that a class is “fee-based.”
It cannot include a call to action (“don’t miss it,” “get your tickets now,” “ join the march”)
It should include a date, time, location and contact information
It should avoid potentially difficult-to-pronounce words or provide a pronunciation guide.
It should be written in the third person, using short, upbeat sentences in a conversational tone.
It should use standard case (please avoid submitting copy in all caps) and ordinal numbers for time and date.
Submit your announcement at least TWO WEEKS prior to the time you want it to air.
Submit your copy in the body of an email to psa@kptz.org. Put a start date and end date at the top.
Sample PSAs
Northwest Kidney Centers holds its 9th annual Breakfast of Hope fundraiser on May 19th at Seattle’s Westin Hotel. The event features illusionist and three‐time kidney transplant recipient Michael Grasso. Registration and more information at nwkidney.org.
The Jefferson County Historical Society has been telling our stories since 1879. The society manages three museums, a research center, and county-wide programs. More information can be found at jchsmuseum.org.
The De Cajon [day cah‐HONE] Project presents Afro‐Peruvian Culture Day, a performance featuring music and dance of the African Diaspora in Peru. That’s on Sunday, June 6th, 8 p.m., at The American Legion Hall, corner of Monroe and Water Sts.
On Saturday, June 4 at 7 p.m. the PT Songlines Spring Sing takes place at the Cotton Building, 650 Water St. The concert includes songs from around the world, audience participation pieces, and new works. All proceeds will go to educate young women in Uganda.
Calendar Submission Guidelines
Each weekday at 7:55, noon, and 5 p.m. KPTZ reads a list of the day’s events. It is our hope that everyone in our listening area that has an event to share will submit a listing to calendar@kptz.org at least a week ahead. In the subject line of your email, first post the date of your event followed by the event’s name. It will help if you listen a few times to get the idea of how this works.
Right now we do not have a community calendar on the weekends, but we do highlight weekend events on Friday.
We do not read press releases or lengthy announcements, just what is happening on that particular day.
We endeavor to keep the total calendar time to five minutes so some days we may fill the time with names and description while on busy and full days we cut things down. We try to include everyone.
A calendar listing is different from a Public Service Announcement. A PSA can only come from a non-profit and may be read ahead of time to alert people to an event that is coming up. PSAs can also be more general - see the PSA policies for further clarification.
For a calendar listing let us know the important facts and we will edit it so that it fits into the flow of our daily calendar reading.
If you have an extended schedule, we will put it into our data base and include it when appropriate. For example, if you have an on-going weekly event, you needn’t send us a notice every week. We will keep it in our schedule. However, if you change a regular event, please give us a week’s notice.
Also, we already receive announcements from the Bare Boards list serve so, if you contact them, we will automatically get the information.
KPTZ hopes that this community service will assist you in getting the word out.
Submission Guidelines
A KPTZ show proposal requires the following three components.
- Demo
Submit a program demo or work sample on CD, in a .wav or MP3 format file, or even on cassette. Samples longer than 15 minutes should be sent on CD.
Produceyour demo with the best equipment you can, preferably edited on a computer. Audacity is a free audio editing program available on the web. In the future we will have training sessions, editing and coaching to help you mold your work into broadcast-ready material.
For live DJ work, submit recordings that are captured as “live” as possible and are not highly edited. The same applies for in-studio interviews. News and documentary will of course be highly edited.
Please include our station ID every 10 to 15 minutes, “You’re listening to KPTZ 91.9 FM, Radio Port Townsend. I’m your host …” Provide a list of the music you are playing in your demo including artist, title, album and date. You can also have public service announcements. - Show Information
- Explain the show’s mission. Do you have a title in mind?
- Be as detailed as possible, explain your show’s content and provide a sample playlist of music/artists (20 minimum), the subject areas for discussion, news to be covered, or topics to be explored (10 minimum). Do you have access to enough material?
- Answer how your show will be relevant to KPTZ community.
- Let us know if you envision this as a weekly, monthly, or occasional show. Will you be available for at least the next 12 months?
- Contact Information
- Provide your name, address, day and evening phone numbers, email address and the names of other people involved in the show.
- Describe your background and any prior media experience (TV, radio or print) listing when and where you worked.
- Let us know if you, or any other members of your team are under 21 years of age.
Email your show demo and proposal or any questions to Larry Stein, Program Coordinator with “Show Proposal” in the subject line. Or mail your demo CD/tape and proposal to:
Larry Stein, Program Coordinator
KPTZ Radio Port Townsend
PO Box 2091
Port Townsend, WA 98368
Then sign up for our newsletter for updates about KPTZ programming and volunteer opportunities by emailing us info@kptz.org.