How Pro-Social Messages Make Their Way Into Entertainment Programming
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
How Pro-Social Messages Make Their Way Into Entertainment Programming A Report to the Carnegie Foundation on Media, Citizens & Democracy A Project of the Center for Excellence in Government and The USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center 2 Media, Citizens & Democracy Project Final Report How Pro-Social Messages Make Their Way Into Entertainment Programming: A Final Report of the Media, Citizens & Democracy Project Media, Citizens & Democracy is a joint project of The Norman Lear Center and the Council for Excellence in Government, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The project aims to develop an effective message and communications strategy that will engage citizens, especially young Americans, in government and democracy, through the examination of the portrayal of government and public service in entertainment media. The project’s final report summarizes its findings on effective methods used by advocacy groups to influence entertainment content. The Council for Excellence in The Norman Lear Center Government The Council for Excellence in Based at the USC Annenberg School Government works to improve the for Communication, the Norman Lear performance of government at all Center is a multidisciplinary research levels and government's place in the and public policy center exploring lives and esteem of American citizens. implications of the convergence of With its experienced staff, network of entertainment, commerce, and society. experts and members and diverse On the USC campus, the Lear Center partners, the Council helps to create builds bridges between eleven schools stronger public sector leadership and whose faculty study aspects of management, driven by innovation and entertainment, media and culture. focused on results; and increased Beyond campus, it bridges the gap citizen confidence and participation in between the entertainment industry government, through better and academia, and between them and understanding of government and its the public. Through scholarship and role. Founded in 1982, the research; through its programs of organization is nonpartisan, nonprofit visiting fellows, conferences, public and national in scope. events, and publications; and in its attempts to illuminate and repair the world, the Lear Center works to be at the forefront of discussion and practice in the field. 3 Media, Citizens & Democracy Project Final Report How Pro-Social Messages Make Their Way Into Entertainment Programming Table of Contents Introduction Pg 4 History of Media Advocacy Efforts in the Entertainment Community Pg 5 Our Approach for This Project Pg 6 Project Purpose Pg 7 Review of Current Media Advocacy Projects Pg 8 Analysis: A Review of Effective Techniques for Working with the Entertainment Industry Pg 35 Lessons Learned from Communication Campaigns Pg 40 Application for Other Pro-Social Messages: A Final Note Pg 45 Endnotes Pg 47 Appendix Pg 49 4 Media, Citizens & Democracy Project Final Report How Pro-Social Messages Make Their Way Into Entertainment Programming A Final Report of the Media, Citizens & Democracy Project By Mandy Shaivitz Introduction The past two decades have seen an upsurge in the use of entertainment programming for the dissemination of pro-social messages. Since the early 1980s, more than twenty organizations have appeared in Hollywood with the purpose of altering or improving portrayals of particular issues in television and film. Certainly these organizations and campaigns assert that they are necessary as countless messages concerning medicine, public health, law and government among others, are embedded in entertainment media and because of the truism that people learn from the programming they watch. The present work provides a review of the literature and practices of organizations that seek to work with the entertainment industry through different means; the organizations are typically referenced as “entertainment education” or “advocacy groups,” although the terms are often interchangeable. The key elements of interest, however, are the strategies and activities employed by such efforts, along with measures and evidence of success. While there is a great deal of information-sharing among the various organizations that seek to work with the entertainment industry to influence content, this information is not readily available to the public. Organizations hoping to enter the field of media advocacy face a sizeable, time-consuming initiation and development process in order to get “up and running.” This project reviews the activities of nineteen representative groups and presents suggested techniques for working with the entertainment industry. 5 Media, Citizens & Democracy Project Final Report History of Media Advocacy Efforts in the Entertainment Community Organized efforts to work with the entertainment television industry to “educate through entertainment” first came on the radar screen in the early 1970s. Several activities have been identified as prominent examples of these efforts. In 1970, David Poindexter, a Methodist minister, arrived in Hollywood where he lobbied entertainment programming to include social and environmental issues. Seven years later, Poindexter went on to develop pro-social programming internationally, eventually founding Population Communications International. In 1972, Smith and colleagues reviewed 130 programming hours and found that “70% of health-related content was ‘inaccurate, misleading or both’.”1 Also in the early 1970s, television producer and writer Norman Lear hired a staff person who was solely responsible for ensuring the accuracy and appropriateness of social messages depicted in his television series All in the Family. Around the same time, an early indication that entertainment programming could affect behavior change presented itself via the popular show Happy Days. One evening’s episode depicted the character Fonzie visiting the library and receiving a library card. For an extensive period of time following the episode, libraries around the country reported record numbers of new library card requests. Similarly, in 1981, Warren Breed and James DeFoe formed an advisory board (DeFoe was a member of the Writers Guild of America), to help them develop and conduct research about the portrayal of alcohol and drinking in entertainment programming. Subsequently, the pair began a formal process called “cooperative consultation,” through which the authors accessed industry decision-makers and met with them to encourage “a more realistic and less glamorizing portrayal of drinking.”2 Twenty years later, these activities have blossomed into an effort in which numerous groups work to influence depictions of a number of pro-social issues (both general and specific), there is a constantly evolving awareness of the issues by industry members and considerable research on the effects of entertainment programming on people of all ages has been conducted. The years have seen a variety of activities, and a 6 Media, Citizens & Democracy Project Final Report careful review of these efforts is vital to understanding the strategies for working successfully with entertainment media representatives. Our Approach for This Project While there are a number of groups that have conducted entertainment industry outreach activities, we have chosen to focus on the following nineteen groups/programs. For the purposes of this project, the review only examines those activities that directly affect the entertainment industry—those organizations for whom the entertainment industry is the primary audience. Not included in this report are policy efforts/government lobbying (which a number of the organizations use in their work—for example, Children Now works to build coalitions of advocates and address politicians in Washington) or watchdog activities that address the entertainment industry in an effort to convince them to adhere to particular media policies or refine entertainment program content based on moral considerations or interest in particular topic areas. Although the focus of this work is not solely “media advocacy” per se, a worthwhile classification of these efforts comes from advocacy expert, Laurie Trotta (2001), who suggests seven categories of activities from which child advocacy organizations develop their campaigns and take action. Included are: 1) positive or collegial work ‘within’ the entertainment industry—where groups sponsor briefings and seminars and positively reinforce excellence in depictions of social issues (The Media Project is an example of such work) 2) independent research—where groups conduct and present content analyses and other scientific studies regarding media issues (Children Now) 3) technical or educational consultancies—where groups provide referrals to accurate information via experts, Web sites and academic literature searches (MediaScope) 4) consumer-based initiatives—where groups organize activities of their audience to speak out against what they view to be inaccurate depictions in programming through letter writing, protests, and boycotts (GLAAD) 5) some organizational use, public policy and government—where groups use government channels to bring about change on the policy level 6) media literacy, advocacy, and awareness—where groups “focus on publishing, training, and education to inform parents, teachers and children of the hazards of media consumption” 7 Media, Citizens & Democracy Project Final Report 7) news media campaigns—where groups use “tactics to orchestrate campaigns in the popular press against individual programs,