This article on the website of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) discusses the work of Population Media Center and the Sabido methodology of entertainment-education. According to the article, radio and television melodramas captivate wide audiences in every part of the world, and in developing countries, positive social messages are increasingly being interwoven into the narratives. The article proposes that this has resulted in dramatic behaviour changes. Population Media Center (PMC), an organisation that works to effect positive social change through broadcast media around the world, uses the edutaiment strategy in countries such as Ethiopia, the Philippines and Rwanda.

Locally written, the edutainment serials dramatise issues and realities specific to various cultural settings. Though the characters themselves and issues they confront vary widely, the process of creating the shows and the story lines follow a carefully researched formula. A critical element of success is that the shows are, first and foremost, entertaining and intense. "It is the emotional bonding between the audience and the character that makes the method effective," said Bill Ryerson, founder of PMC. The article says that engaging emotions, through sound effects and heightened drama, is a powerful way to influence behaviours, such as those surrounding intimate relationships, that are not necessarily guided by reason. Moreover, the emotion sears the social messages into the memory of listeners, Ryerson added.

According to the article, plots unfold gradually and social content on subjects that may be considered taboo is introduced gradually. Each story line has a negative character who makes bad choices, and ultimately suffers the consequences, as well as a positive role model. A ‘transitional character’ with whom the audience is able to identify and empathise, often becomes a major focus of interest. The transitional characters face suffering and doubt. But through positive actions that give them greater control over their lives, they manage to overcome a crisis and enjoy a final change in fortune.

The strategy has been designed so that in the conflicting choices faced by the characters, listeners see their own lives reflected. Over time, the characters can adopt non-traditional responses - such as open discussions of HIV/AIDS or the adoption of family planning - to issues that many in the audience also may be grappling with.

According to the article, popular radio series can change not only the way people think about issues, but also the way they talk about them with one another, which amplifies the effectiveness of this medium. "It’s as if the characters give people permission to have conversations that were previously taboo - and they give them the language with which to do so."

The formula for these melodramas was created and refined by Miguel Sabido when he served as vice- president for research at Televisa, Mexico's major commercial network. Between 1976 and 1985, Sabido produced five serial dramas that are credited as a major factor in the dramatic decline (34 per cent between 1977 and 1986) in the country's population growth rate soon after the programmes aired. Before the story lines are created, PMC works in collaboration with governments, UNFPA and local organisations to identify key issues as well as barriers and opportunities for social change. In some locales, the challenge may be to clarify misperceptions about condoms or contraceptives; in other places, the emphasis may be on the repercussions of family violence.

According to the article, in all situations, it is critical that services are in place that allow listeners to take action. A show that aims to encourage family planning, for instance, cannot be successful unless contraceptives are accessible to the audience.