Strategies for Social Change in the Entertainment-Educational Media: Prospects and Challenges

Abstract

In the latter part of the 1990s, a number of national governments were confronted with a variety of socioeconomic issues. These challenges included rising HIV and AIDS infection rates, unchecked population growth, and continued ethnic tensions. The environmental crisis and other problems are gaining more and more attention. This chapter investigates the potential applications of the entertainment-education media strategy to a variety of contemporary societal issues. In recent years, there has been a noteworthy success in the employment of a wide variety of entertainment media programming across Latin America, Africa, and Asia to effectively disseminate pro-social educational ideals. These kinds of entertainment media programming include print, radio, television, music, film, and folk media sources. The current discussion contains a complete examination of the nine key features associated with the entertainment-education method, which render it an appealing strategy for confronting societal concerns. This analysis was carried out in order to provide a better understanding of the approach. In addition, consideration is given to the components of the structure that have the potential to obstruct the accomplishment of the organization's pro-social goals. This chapter explores the benefits and downsides of employing this specific communication strategy with the overarching objective of supporting societal change, and it does so by analysing the pros and cons of the strategy in question. At the tail end of the twenty-first century, the international world is presented with a myriad of societal problems. These problems include the risk of fatal diseases, unregulated population growth, unstable economies, and impending environmental disasters. Because of the ever-quicker pace at which global political, social, and economic shifts are taking place, there is a growing demand for the development of communication tools that are not only just and effective but also socially acceptable. These technologies are absolutely necessary in order to address the many challenges that are currently being confronted by civilizations. This chapter investigates the usage of entertainment productions for the goal of imparting pro-social and educational ideas. Concurrently, a study of the institutional hurdles that put constraints on the utilisation of entertainment media for development is presented. It is possible that major societal advancement could be facilitated through the parallel exploitation of entertainment and educational opportunities.