This presentation will outline the major problems and prospects of planning an entertainment-education project using mass media to address reproductive health issues and HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia. The challenges posed by logistical obstacles such as the geo-administrative variation and the size of the country, Ethiopia’s great cultural and ethnic diversity, differences in languages, prevalence of harmful traditional practices, poor media infrastructure and the shortage of trained manpower in the field of media and communication, will be discussed. Each of these obstacles creates unique problems for the development of a national broadcast designed to influence attitudes, behaviors and community norms, such as the one being developed in Ethiopia.
To overcome these obstacles, the Ethiopian radio serial drama is using a method of planning that engages the interests of the audience even as it works to modify risky behaviors. Consensus-building workshops, a well defined review of the literature, assessment of current broadcast programming and audience preferences, and wider formative research activities which involve the community, can be used to mitigate, if not negate, these challenges. In addition, involving potential scriptwriters and producers – in the development of both workshops and in devising a moral framework that guides the serial drama -- can help ensure its success.
Attendees at this presentation will be able to identify and analyze logistical issues as they relate to entertainment-education using mass media. Furthermore, they will be able to articulate how particular types of formative assessment can inform the development of a radio serial and overcome many difficult issues.
Learning Objectives: Attendees at this presentation will be able to identify and analyze logistical issues as they relate to entertainment-education using mass media. Furthermore, they will be able to articulate how particular types of formative assessment can inform the development of a radio serial and overcome many difficult issues.
Keywords: Communication Technology, International Reproductive Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: CDC's Global AIDS Program and Population Media Center (PMC)
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.