Semiotic analysis of public service announcements broadcasted by the Traffic Department of the General Directorate of Security

Today, thanks to mass media, messages can reach millions of people instantly. Mass media have functions such as education and information. The main purpose of producing Public Service Announcements is also a part of this function. Therefore, public service announcements attract attention in our country as social advertisements or films, sounds, and sub-bands produced for the public good in order to inform, raise awareness, create awareness and create the desired behavior through means of communication. The increase in the human population, the transition to the age of technopoly and the expansion of the transportation network have caused the population to penetrate into vehicle and pedestrian traffic. In order for traffic to continue safely and risks to be minimized, various Public Service Announcements are published by the General Directorate of Security Traffic Presidency in order to encourage people to comply with certain rules in social life, to turn these into behaviors and to reach the desired level of awareness. In this study, the public service announcements published by the EGM Traffic Presidency on the internet address https://trafik.gov.tr/spot-filmler between 2018-2023 were subjected to semiotic analysis. In this study, the aforementioned public service announcements were analyzed using the Roland Barthes Semiotic Theory as a basis, and multiple readings were made with other semiotic models using the semiotic analysis method. In addition, the study evaluates how the meaning is organized in the public service announcements published by the General Directorate of Traffic, the compatibility of the language and image used, whether it supports the message intended to be conveyed to the target audience, how the visual and written indicators are included in the public service announcements published to establish and strengthen traffic safety, and whether the attitudes and behaviors of the target audience are aimed at encouraging traffic safety.