Examination of public service announcements during the pandemic through media aesthetics and content analysis

Addressing societal issues such as public health, addiction, environmental pollution, safety, education, violence, and traffic accidents is essential for promoting societal well-being. Short video productions designed to raise awareness among individuals and facilitate the transformation of this awareness into attitudes and behaviors are referred to as public service announcements (PSAs). These productions, created in the interest of public welfare, are disseminated via television, radio, and digital media platforms both in Turkey and globally. PSAs aimed at addressing societal challenges are responsible for effectively communicating messages that contribute to the resolution of these issues. The effectiveness of a PSA in delivering its message to the target audience is directly linked to the strength of its audiovisual narrative. In order to construct an effective audiovisual narrative in video production, the elements of media aesthetics must be employed in alignment with the intended communicative objectives. The Covid-19 pandemic has been a global crisis that has affected Turkey and the world, leading to significant loss of life. In response, the Turkish Ministry of Health produced a series of PSAs to raise public awareness and mitigate fatalities. The mortality rates and challenges encountered during the pandemic necessitated an examination of the effectiveness of these PSAs in informing the public. This study is based on the premise that the PSAs developed to enhance public awareness during the Covid-19 pandemic lacked an effective communication framework. The research aims to analyze the PSAs produced by the Turkish Ministry of Health during the pandemic through the lens of media aesthetics and content analysis. The primary objective is to assess whether these PSAs were designed in a manner that effectively fulfilled their informational purpose. The research encompasses 51 PSAs produced by the Turkish Ministry of Health between March 11 2020-the date of the first confirmed Covid-19 case in Turkey-and April 2022. These PSAs were sourced from the Ministry's official website. Utilizing purposive sampling, 39 PSAs were selected for in-depth analysis. The study employs qualitative data analysis methods. A semi-structured interview guide, based on Herbert Zettl's media aesthetics framework-which includes lighting, color, space and visualization, movement and time, and sound-was developed, and in-depth interviews were conducted with six experts. To facilitate content analysis, a coding scheme aligned with Zettl's media aesthetics elements was constructed. Each PSA was systematically examined through content analysis. The findings reveal several deficiencies in the application of media aesthetics elements within the PSAs. The study is expected to contribute to the refinement of future PSA production processes, particularly those aimed at addressing emerging societal challenges. Keywords: Public Service Announcements, Covid-19 Pandemic, Media Aesthetics, Content Analysis, Herbert Zettl