Students Hit Airwaves with Their Own Brand of Public Service Announcements
In William DeJong's radio communications class, public health students whose work one day could be the focus of the media become members of the media themselves.
It
is an interesting twist for these students who work deftly at lab benches
or longitudinal studies but otherwise may never know what it's like to
deliver public health messages on the airwaves.
"The class teaches the students to think about health communication differently," said DeJong, lecturer in the Department of Health and Social Behavior. "It shows them how to use media to support a health message."
He has taught Developing Radio Communications for more than seven years. Students choose a topic for a public service announcement, write 30-second scripts, record them, and pitch them to media outlets. The announcements and pitches are real, made for actual organizations with the intent of airing in targeted media markets. Out of last year's class of 11, four successfully aired their messages at radio stations, including this year's teaching assistant, Jennie Greene.
"Students get a rare opportunity to learn very practical skills," said Greene. "You understand how to use the media as a public health tool."
All of the current class have written their announcements, which reflect the diversity of the public heath field. They have tackled the Boston-New York AIDS ride, treatment of imprisoned drug addicts, homeless elderly, and colorectal cancer prevention.
They also gained a sense of what it is like to be interviewed by the media. Two students from last year's class visited the classroom to conduct mock radio interviews with the students.
"It was interesting," said Amanda Vogel, master's student in the Department of Health and Social Behavior, "because they were being entertaining, and we were trying to get a message across." This week, the students traveled to the Soundscape studios in Boston to record their spots. Michael Moss, owner of the studio, has worked with DeJong's classes for six years. He offers his studio and his services at a nominal fee to the class because he feels strongly about education in general, he said. An instructor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Moss said the class and his studio were a natural fit.
"It is important that public health issues be communicated clearly and in a complete and intelligent way," said Moss.
Besides serving as producer, Moss fulfills another key role in helping the students; he finds the actors with the right voices to record the scripts. Students designate the voice they want for their messages' delivery--gender, accent, and age. Moss chooses from more than three dozen announcers to find the right person, which is sometimes difficult. This year, he is struggling to find an announcer with a specific Vietnamese dialect to record a message aimed at the people of a rural province in the Asian country.
The class offers a facet to public health education that may otherwise
be overlooked. "Sometimes there is a gap between the study of public
health and practice," said Smitha Arekapudi, master's student in
the Department of Epidemiology. "This class teaches you skills you
can use in the real world. The media are important vehicles of education."
| Coming Soon
to a Radio Station Near You?
Here is a PSA work-in-progress from one of this year's students, Tanya Sharpe, who is sponsored by the Division of Public Health Practice and Survivors for Violence Prevention, Inc.: Sibling Survivors ConferenceTeenager: My sister was shot and killed last year. She was my best friend. I was sad, and I was mad...I wanted to get back at them. I didn't know what to do (spoken as sad and hopeless). Then I went to this conference. Yeah, a conference. It was kinda cool. I didn't have to talk, and when I did, people listened. I met other kids just like me...like you! I wasn't alone anymore (emphasis on alone). Announcer: If you've lost a brother or sister as a result of violence, you're not alone. Join us at the next Sibling Survivors Conference. For more information, call (617) 495-4000. That's (617) 495-4000. To hear the public service announcements of last year's class, check out www.hsph.harvard.edu/radiopsa. |
