Entertainment Education

COMT 480/580

Overview

• Definitions• Background• Examples• Lessons Learned

Definitions

• What is entertainment education?• The synergy of entertainment and education consists of

deliberately combining the joy of entertainment with the empowering potential of education to achieve social progress for all.

The International ee 2000 EventThe Third International Entertainment Education for Social ChangeSeptember 17-23, 2000 Arnhem and Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Definitions• Entertainment education—also termed enter‑educate,

pro‑social entertainment, pro‑development entertainment, edu‑tainment and infotainment—is defined as:

– the process of putting educational content in entertaining formats and messages in order to:

• increase knowledge• create favorable attitudes • change overt behavior concerning an educational issue

Methodology

• Role modeling (Bandura’s Social Learning Theory – We learn by identifying w/ characters and modeling their behavior when we see it’s rewarded)– Positive role models– Transitional characters– Negative role models

• Efficacy– Individual– Collective

Programs

• Population Communication International– www.population.org– Tinka, Tinka Sukh (Happiness Lies in Small Things) 1996

• Radio soap opera in India• Against child marriage• Gender equity• Against dowry• Girls education• Self-development• Family planning• HIV prevention

Tinka Tinka Sukh• Village like Lutsaan

– Progressive & traditional– Characters identified with

• Messages:– Dowry

• Poonam, bride, is beaten by her husband & in-laws (negative role models) for not providing adequate dowry. She is sent back to her parents after incorrectly being accused of infidelity, and then commits suicide.

– Child marriage• Kusum is married at 18, gets pregnant, & dies.

– Efficacy• Sushma is left by her husband & starts a sewing school (positive role model)• Sunder, a drug addict, gets clean and finds a job.• Villagers construct a new hospital

Effects

• Tinka Tinka Sukh– Poster-letter from Village of Lutsaan, India

• Vowed to oppose dowry• Shyam Club supported girls’ schooling• Endorsed family planning as a cost-saver• Claimed emotional involvement with characters –

– tailor id’d w/ Ramlal (pampered son who becomes a development officer) as a transitional character

• Limited media access (only 60 radios for pop. 6,000)

How or why effective?

• Tailor & Post-master– Opinion leaders– Diffusion of innovations (Everett Rogers)– Interpersonal communication– Transitional role model

• Parasocial interaction– Tailor’s shop

Untapped Potential

• Entertainment media– Most pervasive genre– Tells us how to think, speak, dress

• 3 reasons it should be tapped– Development problems are huge, resources scarce– Leisure & entertainment is mega-trend

• Media access growing worldwide

– Positive audience reception to social messages on entertainment

Resistance

• Entertainment degradation programs– Lots of sex & violence– Little media deals w/ consequences

• Boredom education programs• Entertainment education

– Sesame Street, PBS• Cognitive learning skills

– Archie Bunker (negative role model for bigotry)– Embedded messages (Winsten, 1999)

• Designated driver campaign on 77 shows, e.g. LA Law

Lessons learned

• Entertainment education can be used to educate youngsters

• Start-up costs high• Formative research crucial• Balance creative & communication research• Can be transferred across cultural boundaries• Economies of scale• TV content shaped by eco & political realities

Ethics of Entertainment-Education

• Ethics in the field of Entertainment-Education should:– Participation

• Encourage full and informed participation of all stakeholders, including audiences.

– Information• Based on appropriate information

– Design• Culturally tailored messages• Include careful design and monitoring of implementation processes

– Monitor• Monitor effects & societal consequences

Research

• Goals:– conducting and sharing research to the development of the

Entertainment-Education field – fine-tuning of current research methods – new and more comprehensive approaches for formative,

monitoring, and evaluation research– set a research agenda that includes study into the role of

performing artists, their involvement in social subjects, and intended and unintended effects

Sustainability

• expand professional expertise through continuing pre-service and in-service training and education in related professional fields

• promote sound business practices that will support sustainability, including branding and marketing, to optimize cost-effectiveness with a fair and equitable financial return to all participants

Collaboration

• The organizing parties of the International ee 2000 Event committed to:– develop a network of associates that will facilitate the

exchange of information and materials– sustain this network, establishing and coordinating a Web

site, developing a global distribution system for existing Entertainment- Education materials, and other initiatives.

– plan for future meetings amongst our organizations and with other interested parties

– establish awards to recognize excellence in the Entertainment-Education field

Background

• E-E 2000E-E 2000 took place from September 17-23, 2000 in the Netherlands. – The E-E 2000 Event will consist of five

days of interactive programs with plenary sessions, multimedia presentations, expert panels, and "real life" clusters.

Haiti: "Zanmi" Music Video

• The Youth Reproductive Health project, Sept. 1995 – Target = youth between the ages of 15-24 in the metropolitan

area of Port-au-Prince. – Goal = to promote reproductive health issues among youth – Context = The project was designed during a period of

political unrest and financial crisis in Haiti, during the 1995 UN tightening of the embargo imposed on the country. It is the first project of its kind in Haiti.

Formative research

• One-week message & materials development workshop– Fondation de Santé

Reproductive et d'Education Familiale (FOSREF),

– Center for Development and Health (CDS)

– Johns Hopkins University Population Communication Services (JHU/PCS)

– Members of target audience

Message development

• During the workshop the young participants developed the following materials:– a sexual responsibility game – a song for a music video – three radio spots – three photonovelas – a poster – a general information leaflet

Messages (cont’d)

• ZanmiA song and music video were products of the Youth Reproductive Health Project. Their themes are:– protecting and respecting yourself and your relationships and – Sexual responsibility

• Both the song and the video were produced by King Posse, a well known rap group in Haiti– with financial support from the United Nations Population

Fund (UNFPA) and technical support from ASPHA (Haitian Public Health Association).

Rap song

• Lyrics (translated from Creole)Let's take care! Let's control ourselves!When we are ready, So as not to have any regrets!You love me, I love you! Let's take care!You love me, I love you!Let's control ourselves!You love me, I love you! When we are ready!

Success?

• “The video continued to be played on commercial TV in Haiti and the song was heard regularly on the radio. It is an excellent example of the ‘enter educate’ approach because the song is perceived by the Haitian public as just another song by King Posse and not as a song with a health-related message. Everybody, particularly adolescents, knows the lyrics of the song.” – JHU/CCP web site.