The Drum Beat 240 - Radio Dramas, Part II

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This issue is the second in a 2-part series exploring radio drama as a communication strategy for development. What has this approach looked like, and why it has been successful or failed in certain cases? These questions motivated the January 2002 publication of "An Institutional Review of Educational Radio Dramas," submitted by Mary Myers to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (USA). This report summarises, categorises, and analyses 14 entertainment-education projects that use radio.

This issue of the Drum Beat will focus on the report. To access the full document:

Click here for the HTML version or

Click here for the PDF version.

Please see Part I of this series for additional context:

Click here for The Drum Beat 239 - Radio Dramas - Part I.

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CASE STUDIES

See "At-a-glance Table of Case-Studies": click here for the table as a PDF document.

1.Albania - Rruga MePisha

Highlights issues of governance, democracy, local elections, domestic violence, land disputes, blood feuds, public health, and drug abuse. While the soap is 'issues-led', producers do not adhere to an explicit behaviour change theory and do not believe in 'messages'. Instead, they offer choices and promote discussion; characters are morally inconsistent, much like the adult listeners.

2.Bolivia - Wila Kasta

This reproductive health drama is aimed at the indigenous people of Bolivia, especially youth. Strengths include its strong emphasis on popular music, high professional standards of recording and production, and high levels of radio access among the population. Producers conduct formative research and attend to the cultural acceptability of key messages.

3.Burundi - Our Neighbours Ourselves

Featuring a Hutu and a Tutsi family who live next door to each other, this drama uses humour to tackle serious issues impacting rural daily life, such as violence and inter-ethnic hatred, against a backdrop of civil war and political instability. A small but experienced and committed team with a relatively low budget produces this very popular drama.

4.Cambodia - Lotus on Muddy Lake

Part of a programme called Especially for You, Young People that is broadcast 3 times a week and aimed at the 12-to-24 age group, this soap tackles sensitive sexual and reproductive health issues. The idea is to increase awareness, discussion, and acceptance of safe behaviour, reaching out to young people with an integrated, long-term programme of which drama is but 1 component.

5.India - Tinka Tinka Sukh

A music-based style and strong storylines and characters helped make this drama popular. A 1999 evaluation identified a "paradoxical communication" effect, illustrated by a young male listener who "talked about the importance of small family size and gender equality [but]...also stated that abortion for sex selection was an acceptable means of limiting the population. Established patterns of thought and behavior are difficult to change[;] people often engage in an adjustment process until the new behavior patterns are fully internalized."

6.Kenya - Tembea Na Majira

Both sides of various issues are presented to generate discussion and let listeners, mostly rural Kenyan women, make up their own minds. The project has become a private enterprise; Cadbury's is mentioned before and after each show, has product placement during the show, and uses characters and themes from the soap in its advertising. Apparently, such sponsors do not influence the content or style of the messages and are comfortable being associated with issues like child sex abuse.

7.Malawi - Zimachitika

This popular drama seeks "to create community dialogue so that barriers are acknowledged and ways to overcome them are more easily understood." Each episode's theme is captured through a proverb and often a song. Malawian cultural heritage is interwoven with new ideas in such areas as agroforestry, household resource management, and gender equity. A conflict-and-resolution format explores controversial issues and humanises messages. Each episode ends with a cliffhanger.

8.Nepal - Cut Your Coat and Service Brings Reward

To promote use of contraception and health services, Cut Your Coat features colourful villains, heroines and heroes, and suspense (the writer is famous for his poetic writing and humour). Summary episodes feature an interactive listeners' forum with letters and contests. Service Brings Reward updates the knowledge and communication skills of rural, clinic-based health workers, who are urged to listen in groups. Field monitors visit health posts to record interviews for broadcast.

9.Rwanda - Urunana

This soap focusses on women's and youth reproductive and sexual health. Condoms are advocated, but some listeners complain that they are not available. One condition for producers to operate was that the drama would not refer to ethnicity or genocide. Magasine content encourages dialogue about sensitive issues; role models encourage positive behavioural change.

See also Radio Soap for Health Education – Lessons Learnt by Health Unlimited Rwanda 1997-2003

10.South Africa - Soul City

Features the everyday lives and conflicts of citizens in a fictional rural township. The storyline is the same across the 9 broadcast regions, but settings, character names, and language are adapted to each. Its success is due in part to a strong founding and management team and South Africa's high existing skill levels in mass media and marketing and high radio ownership. Soul Beat emphasises, and widely publicises, formative research and evaluation.

11.St Lucia - Apwé Plezi

The title comes from a local Creole saying: "After the pleasure comes the pain." 5 episodes were produced each week to teach adult St. Lucians about family responsibility and encourage family planning. Positive, negative, and transitional role models provided vicarious learning experiences.

12.Tanzania - Twende Na Wakati

18 characters depict the daily efforts of Tanzanians, particularly the current generation, to surmount harsh economic realities. Each epilogue summarises messages, poses questions, and urges listeners to tune in again. Highly emotional messages emphasise negative consequences of behaviour. Many listeners have sent letters to Radio Tanzania offering advice to the characters, indicating that they are also emulating positive behaviour.

13.Vanuatu - Famili Blong Serah

Promotes condom use, discusses faithfulness, and creates sympathy for HIV-positive people. Messages are woven into the plot; the hope is that concepts will slowly seep in and gradually lead to behaviour shifts. Produced by a community theatre troupe, the drama is based on real-life stories. Appreciative comments outweigh complaints about the mention of condoms and objections to a corruption storyline.

See also The Drum Beat 232 - Wan Smolbag Theatre - Vanuatu

14.West Africa (Regional) - Yamba Songo

To weave experience of life in all focus countries into a natural story, the main character traveled throughout West Africa looking his father. Urban adults and youth audiences liked "the feeling of different cities" and "knowing that people in other countries have problems similar to their own". Short message spots and teasers were linked directly to specific situations in each episode.

LESSONS LEARNED

An analysis of these dramas reveals the following shared and replicable features; see also Synthesis of Findings (click here) and Replicable Features (click here).

* Finances: securing capital for start-up and funding for sustainability. Acquiring local commercial sponsorship without compromising content is possible where there is a solid consumer base.

* Staffing: creating a hard-working local team with vision and champion(s) at the helm. While artistry and flair do not necessarily emanate from training, expertise in absolute basics may need to be built from scratch. Adhering to the production cycle helps overstretched staff cope.

* Quality & realism: paying constant attention to the show's professionalism and expertise to generate prestige and retain the audience. Realism refers to plausible and character-consistent events or behaviours, not necessarily events that actually happened. Music and humour seem to have special success.

* Research & evaluation: sustaining an integral, ongoing audience research component. The more writers interact with listeners and incorporate their feedback at every stage, the more true-to-life the drama will be.

* Partnership: collaborating with diverse partners and stakeholders, hopefully over an extended period of time and with a high degree of trust and goodwill.

* Enabling environment: attending to the show's physical, political, cultural, financial, and broadcast context. Audience support and strong relationship with the national government are key, particularly if controversial messages are involved.

* Other supporting media-based or interpersonal communications activities: creating back-up materials and accompanying factual/documentary/Q&A programmes. Promoting the show by running on-air spots and/or by advertisements in the local press.

* Addressing both the supply and the demand side: providing education and support to social/health/agriculture services and suppliers (e.g., of condoms) as well as encouraging demand. Checking the availability of technologies on the ground.

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This issue was written by Kier Olsen DeVries.

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PULSE POLL

International Days are not useful in developing countries.

[For context, please see The Drum Beat 238]

Do you agree or disagree?

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The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.


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