GUEST COLUMN: Facing the Challenge: Public Service Announcements and the DP

DP Policy Takes Cops Off the Streets. Sound crazy? Well, not really. Most papers and magazines place public service announcements like this for free. The DP however, is different. Despite trying to get the advertising fee waived, the Division of Public safety was charged $945 for its Safety Bulletin. By ignoring its responsibility to the community, the DP has in effect caused the Division of Public Safety to have less money to help put police on the streets. How could this be? My anger inspired me to find an explanation for why the DP wasn't working with the police department to promote crime prevention. Who could possibly be against an issue like campus safety? After talking to many DP staffers, I found out that the only real policy for public service advertisements was that American Heart Association ads (usually 2 X 2 inches) were sometimes placed when empty space needed to be filled. Although noble in spirit, the DP, as one of the most powerful voices on campus and the students main source for information, should and could do much more for a community it is dependent on for support. Public service advertising is a win-win situation for us all. The benefits to the community are huge, while the costs to the DP are minimal. Pro-bono advertising could increase the impact of existing programs. It could educate students about the dangers of city living. Limited available resources could be leveraged to address social problems. People would think more positively about Penn's daily newspaper, and if done effectively it could become one of the paper's most valued assets. Institutionalizing a formal public service advertisement policy will not cure all of Penn's ills, but it could make an important impact. If this type of advertising is so beneficial, then why hasn't it become an integral part of Philadelphia's third largest daily newspaper? First of all, the DP has been denying its social responsibility to campus, under the guise of being "independent" and "objective." If newspapers like the New York Times can print "All the News That's Fit to Print," (which includes some public service advertising), then the DP can overcome its myopic thinking and find some way to do so as well. Also, DP staffers who say that they don't want to show bias or favoritism towards certain groups or use the old "We're just a student newspaper excuse," are copping out. Have you ever been inside the DP's office? It's unbelievable. They have offices for all of the big-wigs, 8 full-time staff members, and annual revenues close to a million dollars. Thus, the DP is not your ordinary student run newspaper and it has a greater responsibility than to simply report and editorialize. Their lack of commitment is the only deterrent to public service advertising. What if public service advertising was institutionalized? How would the DP determine what and who got to be published? To argue that it would be too difficult to determine who would receive public service advertising is simply a denial of responsibility. The "Where do you draw the line?" excuse could be overcome if the executive board adopted a cause it feels strongly about. For the cost of extra paper and ink, this selected group could be given an ad a week, an ad a month, or even heavily subsidized advertising. Excuses for the DP's prior behavior does not forgive it from future responsibilities to its community. If anything, the recent tragic crimes that affected everyone at Penn have presented a window of opportunity for the DP to leave its ivory tower on Walnut Street and enter the trenches to fight crime and make Philadelphia a better place. By forming a partnership with the Division of Public safety, students could be better informed to protect themselves against crime. If I was the executive board, I would first make some sort of good faith effort to show the DP's commitment to the university community. This could mean refunding the Division of Public Safety's $945 spent on public service during last week, or printing a large advertisement for some cause or community group. Then, I would take time out of the daily rigors of trying to get a paper out to determine a proactive and formal policy to deal with public service advertising. This column is a challenge to all members of The Daily Pennsylvanian. I invite you to take a leadership role in addressing critical issues facing Penn through an institutionalized, proactive public service advertising program. These column's words, and the ideas they represent do not have to end after this issue is thrown away, recycled, or finally commented on through letters to the editor. They can be a beginning, a first step to positively changing our University. Jason Diaz is a senior Finance major from Teaneck, New Jersey.

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