Centre for the Study of Communication and Culture Volume 28 (2009) No. 2

IN THIS ISSUE Pervasive Entertainment, Ubiquitous Entertainment

Louis Bosshart and Lea Hellmüller University of Fribourg-Freiburg

AQUARTERLY REVIEW OF COMMUNICATION RESEARCH

ISSN: 0144-4646 Communication Research Trends Table of Contents Volume 28 (2009) Number 2 http://cscc.scu.edu

1. Introduction ...... 3 Published four times a year by the Centre for the Study of 2. Theoretical Approach: Infotainment ...... 3 Communication and Culture (CSCC), sponsored by the A. Entertainment ...... 3 California Province of the Society of Jesus. B. Information ...... 6 Copyright 2009. ISSN 0144-4646 C. Infotainment ...... 6 3. Advertainment: Advertising Editor: William E. Biernatzki, S.J. and Entertainment ...... 7 Managing Editor: Paul A. Soukup, S.J. 4. Charitainment: Charity Editorial assistant: Jazminda Ryan and Entertainment, Celebrity Advocacy ...... 8 5. Edutainment: Education and Entertainment . . . 9 Subscription: A. Edutainment Media ...... 10 Annual subscription (Vol. 28) US$50 B. Entertainment-Education: Create Favorable Attitudes ...... 10 Payment by check, MasterCard, Visa or US$ preferred. Theoretical Background ...... 11 For payments by MasterCard or Visa, send full account Resistance to, and Critiques of, number, expiration date, name on account, and signature. Entertainment-Education Interventions . . . 12 6. Evangelitainment: Religion Checks and/or International Money Orders (drawn on and Entertainment ...... 13 USA banks; for non-USA banks, add $10 for handling) 7. Militainment: Military and Entertainment . . . . 14 should be made payable to Communication Research 8. Politainment: Politics and Entertainment . . . . . 15 Trends and sent to the managing editor 9. Sportainment: Sports and Entertainment . . . . . 17 Paul A. Soukup, S.J. 10. Conclusion, Discussion, Criticism ...... 18 Communication Department Santa Clara University Editor’s Afterword ...... 20 500 El Camino Real Santa Clara, CA 95053 USA References ...... 21 Additional Bibliography ...... 23 Transfer by wire: Contact the managing editor. Add $10 for handling. Book Reviews ...... 25 Address all correspondence to the managing editor at the address shown above. Tel: +1-408-554-5498 Fax: +1-408-554-4913 email: [email protected]

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2— VOLUME 28 (2009) NO. 2 COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRENDS Pervasive Entertainment, Ubiquitous Entertainment

Louis Bosshart and Lea Hellmüller [email protected] — [email protected]

1. Introduction

“Never before in history has so much entertain- the large field of social sciences. Some 24 years later ment been so readily accessible to so many people for one must admit the accuracy of his description of the so much of their leisure time” (Singhal & Rogers, 2002, symptoms, both then and now. We will discuss the p. 119). Media entertainment, now decentralized and degree of accuracy of his diagnosis in regard to the con- omnipresent in our lives, has transformed our society sequences of such a development later in this essay. into a hedonist one. We have more technical opportuni- The trend to present “all subject matter as enter- ties to enjoy entertainment, but we also see that enter- taining” stems from a changed manner of processing tainment has grown and affects more and more diverse information by individual recipients. More precisely, areas such as sports, politics, information, and educa- the individual experience controls or determines enter- tion. As long ago as 1985 Postman pointed out that tel- tainment, not the product. Wolf (1999) sees an enor- evision made entertainment itself the natural format for mous appetite for entertainment content, something to the representation of all experience. Following his connect people emotionally with products, something prophecy, public discourse had already begun to degen- to provide human beings with information in a stimu- erate into entertainment. The main suspect was televi- lating way. Entertainment has become the unifying sion that like King Midas had the talent to convert force of modern commerce as pervasive as currency. everything it came in touch with into something partic- Based on the assumptions that entertainment ular. King Midas received the gift that whatever he affects people deeply and that humans have a need for touched immediately converted into gold. The gift car- living in a hedonist society, this review will focus on ried a price and a problem—he could not eat the bread how entertainment has achieved a ubiquitous presence that had become gold when he took it in his hand. in our everyday lives. It explores the omnipresence of Television—and its viewers—on the other hand suffer entertainment and describes the symbiotic relationship from the gift that whatever television deals with between entertainment and information, entertainment becomes entertainment. As a consequence of this and sports, entertainment and politics, entertainment inevitable conversion, politics, religion, news, sports, and charity, and other similar relations. It describes the education, and economy become appendices of show way media entertainment has deformed our (media) business as soon as television looks after them. Postman society into a hedonist society and vice versa, and it (1985) wrote in a highly descriptive way and did not discusses the positive and negative aspects of the per- take into account much empirical research arising from vasive entertainment phenomena.

2. Theoretical Approach: Infotainment

A. Entertainment ly passive way (Brock & Livingston, 2004, p. 257). We define entertainment, in its broadest sense, as Based on empirical and theoretical research, we any situation or activity from which a person derives describe the experience of being entertained or of pleasure. Entertainment appears mostly in situations enjoying entertainment in the following way (Bosshart where recipients receive exogenous stimuli in a large- & Macconi, 1998, p. 4):

COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRENDS VOLUME 28 (2009) NO. 2 — 3 Thomas Aquinas Thomas Hausmanninger Passiones sunt delectationes Entertainment is a pleasure of:

The Senses: Sensibilis The use of physical abilities; competences of using the body, experiencing (the display of) motor and sensual activity (Ego-) Emotions: Emotionalis Evoking and experiencing emotions: “Mood management: using entertainment to full advantage” (Zillmann, 1988, p. 147) Wit/knowledge: Cognitionis Cognitive, intellectual powers, competences of being able to use one’s wit (Socio-) Emotions: Reflexiva Feel with others and feel for others: identification and empathy

Table 1: Categories of pleasure in entertainment

• Psychological relaxation (restful, refreshing, light, many things can be entertaining for many people, some and/or distracting) things are not entertaining at all. • Change and diversion (varied, diverse) After all, entertainment is pleasure, and that • Stimulation (dynamic, interesting, exciting, and/or means experiencing pleasure by witnessing or being thrilling) exposed to something! Taking up the terminology used • Fun (merry, amusing, funny) by Thomas Aquinas in his reflections on the passions • Atmosphere (beautiful, good, pleasant, and/or com- and following Hausmanninger’s “Outlines of a fortable) Constructive Theory of Entertainment” (1993, p. 34), • Joy (happy, cheerful) we categorize pleasure as consisting of four sub-cate- gories, as shown in Table 1. These experiences are indeed pleasant and posi- Since delectationes sensibiles et emotionales tive ones, distinct from everyday routines and bore- mostly come together in psychosomatic reactions, we dom. Entertainment in the sense of the Latin word can break the above categorization down in three sub- tenere means to keep somebody steady, busy, or systems based on the human systems: amused. In today’s words entertainment serves the improvement of mood states or, more neutrally, acts as materiality, existence Physical System an effective mood management tool. (being there) Stimulation seems to provide the most important motive for entertainment-seeking individuals. Their personality (emotions main goal is to reach or maintain an ideal level of Psychological System and cognitions), (being arousal or an optimal level of activation. Different gen- thus) res offer stimuli of different strengths to people with sociality, coexistence, Social System different entertainment needs. While some people society (being with) eagerly want to get an arousal kick out of entertainment stimuli, others tend to want to lower their excitation It may appear schematic to associate with the sub- level, and still other people try to maintain their exist- systems of the human system the genres and concepts ing state of satisfaction. Entertainment allows regulat- of entertainment (its constituents and functions). Such ing different states of excitation. associations serve only as preliminary examples to an In order to examine the ubiquitous phenome- analysis of further dimensions. non of entertainment we have to look at two sides: at Taking the associations that go with the term the pleasurable experiences and at the stimuli those entertainment, taking the main constituents of enter- experiences use to create pleasure. Despite the fact that tainment, and taking the basic elements of the defini-

4— VOLUME 28 (2009) NO. 2 COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRENDS tions of what (probably) constitutes entertainment, the have this in common: They are imperfect beings, look- basic factors of the term “entertainment” show the fol- ing for absoluteness. lowing profile: On the basis of the imperfect human system and • Factor 1: “assessment.” Items: pleasant, agreeable, its needs, we can construct multidimensional fields of good, beautiful, enjoyable tension in which we can position entertainment as a • Factor 2: “potential.” Items: light, restful, easy, not human reality. On the whole, and as a summary of the demanding, not compulsory argument so far, the main dimensions (and oppositions) • Factor 3: “activity.” Items: stimulating, dynamic, constituting entertainment appear in Table 2. alive, exciting, thrilling, spontaneous, varied We can understand entertainment as a working So entertainment has basically active (stimula- out of a balance (or a homeostatic state) between tion, suspense), tension reducing (relaxation, diversi- dichotomous options—between hope and fear, free- ty), and positive (joy, pleasure) components. Put nega- dom and limits, play and serious behavior. In this tively, entertainment is not demanding, not unpleasant, sense, entertainment serves as a survival kit for daily not monotonous, and not boring. People also experi- life that makes it livable; it serves as a vehicle in ence entertainment as something that compares more finding a fit with the environment. Entertainment positively to any other alternatives. reduces the gap between reality and utopia (in our Constructed to the idiosyncrasies of various minds); it allows us to live with contradictions, incon- human systems, entertainment thus appears as a ubiq- sistencies, and inadequacies; and it offers venues for uitous every-day phenomenon that crosses public and self-directed self-experiences, self-enhancement as private spheres, past experiences and future concepts, well as self-fulfillment or self-realization. From this and real actions and fictional models. If one considers point of view, entertainment sustains humans. It the maintenance of a comfortable equilibrium of reduces the accidental nature of life by offering exem- excitement as an important function of entertainment, plary (or perhaps even absolute) models. The essen- then one must also say that the extent of the need for tial goal of human entertainment therefore may be to entertainment varies individually. It varies with the establish or sustain balances between different fields age, gender, education, intelligence, psychological or states of existential tensions, primarily maintaining state, social situation, and so on of each individual. a balance between reality and utopia. Two of the Various factors make different grades of need, satisfied taken-for-granted descriptions of entertainment, as by different offers and reception patterns. Interaction “escape” and as “wish-fulfillment,” point to its cen- between the supply and the receiver situation brings tral thrust, namely utopianism. about an extraordinarily large number of possibilities, Entertainment offers the image of ‘something sometimes even in contradictory ways. But people better’ to escape into, or something we want

Reality-based extremes of the human system Utopia-based extremes of the human system

reality imagination chance, coincidence eschatology risk security seriousness play limits, rules freedom fears hopes anxiety wishes chaos structure conflict, discord harmony, concord obligations liberty exhaustion energy boredom excitement monotony variety

Table 2: Dualisms of human entertainment

COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRENDS VOLUME 28 (2009) NO. 2 — 5 deeply that our day-to-day lives don’t provide. ters as much as information. This goes not only for the Alternatives, hopes, wishes—these are the stuff producers and the product but also for the audience. of utopia, the sense that things could be better, Dehm and Storll (2003, p. 429) established a list of the that something other than what is can be imag- main motives for watching television, that is, experi- ined and maybe realized. (Dyer, 1992, p. 18) ences people look for when they watch television. B. Information • Emotions (fun, relaxation, tension, diversion) • Orientation (inspiration, new information, opportu- Information, on the other hand, is a difference nity to learn, topics to discuss) that makes a difference. This definition of the con- • Compensation (calm, reassurance, distraction) cept of information elaborated by Gregory Bateson • Social event (feelings of belongingness, sharing an (1981) and promulgated by Niklas Luhmann (1996, interest) p. 100) contains in a few words the main elements of information: news, relevance, correctness. News C. Infotainment means that information must enlarge our body of It does not take much time or energy to realize knowledge or, the other way round, must reduce that these motives form a symbiosis, with the compo- uncertainty. In information theory information is a nents of information and entertainment. About 20 measure of uncertainty or entropy in a situation. We years ago the term to denote that symbiosis appeared understand “situation” as a system of circumstances in popular culture: “infotainment.” This refers to (factors) in a given time. Our everyday life constant- media products that inform people as well as entertain ly moves from one situation to another, all linked them. Content and form combine elements of infor- together. The history of humankind describes how mation and entertainment. Despite the recency of the people tried to remove unpredictability and uncer- neologism, “infotainment,” the phenomenon as such tainty from their lives. People did it by accumulating has ancient roots. Aristotle wrote in the 22nd chapter personal and social experiences, that is, by learning. of his Poetics (1966, pp. 67) that good language is People did it with the help of laws (rules that regulate clear but not ordinary. For Aristotle the language or channel the behavior of members of a social becomes important where actions, persons, or ideas body), cultures (value systems and beliefs that struc- cannot alone absorb the attention of the audience and ture society), and religions (to cover the area between yield to stimulating elements. Aristotle points out the reality and transcendence) that make sense. Fortune- main issues: the proportions of the mixture, the inter- tellers say that they remove uncertainty from the action between information and entertainment, form future. In every situation people try to overcome and content. For Quintus Horatius Flaccus (De arte uncertainty, to gain insight, to get as many things as poetica, verses 333f.) literature has the two main possible under control, to solve problems and to goals of instruction and delight: “aut prodesse volunt make a good living. aut delectare poetae aut simul et iucunda et idonea Information has utility not only for what we dicere vitae” (Poetry shall instruct and please, create think, feel, and do. It should also apply to our lives. communication pleasures and combine what is agree- This utility-principle of information highlights its rele- able and useful for our life). vance. The news-, utility-, and relevance-potential of Infotainment, then, seems quite normal in differ- information to reduce uncertainty, to solve problems, to ent processes of human communication. It means the answer questions can only be put in concrete form as transfer of information in a pleasant way. Infotainment long as the information is correct. means the combination of stimulating information (cog- For ages public and academic discourse strictly nition) and arousing entertainment (emotion). We all separated entertainment and information. People disso- find it more agreeable to listen to a witty speaker than ciated themselves from simple, vulgar amusements; to a boring one. Good teachers know when they have to scholars judged entertainment as not worth academic insert a joke to keep the attention of the students. research. But things have changed in the meantime. We see the success of infotainment in how it per- Now we understand that we cannot separate informa- vades nearly every area of public life. Here is a list of tion and entertainment, that they both form a profound the main combinations, which shows that nearly every- and intimate, amalgamated, integrated whole. And we thing can entertain: now recognize that mass mediated entertainment mat-

6— VOLUME 28 (2009) NO. 2 COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRENDS Advertainment (advertising and entertainment) Information Branded Entertainment Charitainment (Charity and entertainment) Computainment (computer entertainment) Talk Shows Crititainment (criticism and entertainment) Digitainment (digital entertainment) Docutainment (documentary and entertainment) Comments Cabaret Advertising Edutainment (education and entertainment) Documentaries Evangelitainment (evangelism/religion and enter- Opinion form- Entertainment tainment) ing Infotainment (Information and entertainment) Quizzes Internetainment (Internet entertainment) Analysis Iuristainment (law and entertainment) Militainment (military and entertainment) Newstainment (news and entertaintment) Politainment / Confrontainment (politics and enter- Education tainment) Preventainment (prevention/health care and enter- Figure 1: Overlapping functions of mass entertainment tainment) An intense examination of this topic also shows Scientainment (Science and entertainment) that we cannot exclude one form of entertainment Sportainment (sports and entertainment) from another. For example, war results from a politi- As noted earlier, the phenomenon of amalgating cal conflict which, if presented in an entertaining information with entertainment or vice versa has form, we can described as either militainment or poli- occurred for centuries. The changing environment of tainment or even infotainment depending on the way the media demonstrates that media functions still pack- a news report frames the story. Therefore we must age bundles of interacting variables. (See Figure 1.) keep in mind that each of the forms distinguished in This figure presents our view of an ongoing blur- this overview influences the others and interconnects ring of boundaries between information and entertain- with the others. Entertainment is pervasive in every ment. It further shows the difficulty of distinguishing area of public and private life. The following exam- between information and entertainment. The following ples shall give an impression of what infotainment in sections in this review provide an overview of the main selected spheres can mean. combinations of entertainment and information.

3. Advertainment: Advertising and Entertainment

A synonym for Advertainment, Branded catch the attention of a well defined audience. Branded Entertainment, means the promotion of a brand. This entertainment combines two goals. It wants to entertain promotion features the brand as a protagonist in an an audience and it wants to position a brand in a sphere entertaining context. In Advertainment or Branded covered by mass media, that is, in strong channels of Entertainment formats, producers integrate brands in a mass distribution. Branded Entertainment, then, means narrative, making it essential for the further develop- neither product placement, nor sponsoring, nor public ment of the plot (Schmalz, 2007, p. 125). relations. Branded Entertainment claims to create an Advertainment and Branded Entertainment offer con- added value for the brand, the medium, and the con- structions of lifestyles in which brands appear smooth- sumers who pay attention to a new format as long as ly embedded in attractive, inconspicuous, symbolic, they are informed, amused, and entertained. These con- fictional worlds; they help to create social cohesion as sumers encounter the brand via movies, music, fashion, well as homogenous peer groups, that is, clearly lifestyle magazines, or different genres in the field of defined target audiences. Such a mise en scene aims to popular culture (see Fowles, 1996).

COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRENDS VOLUME 28 (2009) NO. 2 — 7 Advertainment and Branded entertainment catch The successful union of advertising and broad- the attention of audiences, that is, of consumers. The casting that began in the 1920s generated an fight for that very rare economic good became neces- industry where advertising flourishes as enter- sary because contemporary, developed, and industrial- tainment, with lavish budgets, impressive tal- ized societies suffer from a tremendous information ents, and its own version of the Emmy and Oscar overload. So, as long as the target audience pays atten- awards. At the same time, from the culture and celebrity of salesmanship to the pervasive aura tion to the commercial message, it gets the benefit of of product consciousness to the staccato, frag- amusement and entertainment. Positive commercial mented style that echoes clusters of commer- messages are well received, understood, and stored as cials, entertainment has become advertising. long as they show up with the entertaining stimulus of (2004, p. 43) activation. Advertisers can accomplish this with an arousal kick, with an aesthetically sophisticated And in the words of Moss, shopping can also be seen appearance, with emotional stimulation, with romantic, as an “entertainment experience” (2007). The main erotic or sexual attributes, with humor, or with intellec- goal of branded entertainment is consumerism. It tual wit. Advertainment and Branded entertainment indicates an attitude that seeks to influence people by demand a tight cooperation of advertisers and enter- creating a consumer friendly atmosphere. tainers. Kretchmer puts it this way:

4. Charitainment: Charity and Entertainment, Celebrity Advocacy

TIME magazine nominated 2005 as the year of fame is a superpower that allows celebrities to save the charitainment (Poniewozik, 2005). At that moment, world with money. And this leads to these interesting the symbiotic relationship between charity and enter- questions about the phenomenon: Why does it draw the tainment became clearer than ever before. Celebrities rest of the world’s attention? Why do people and received huge attention in the entertainment media celebrities donate money to people they don’t even because of their charity activities. Bono and Bob know? Different scientific approaches offer explana- Geldof organized the Live Aid concerts. “So effective tions. This section tries to answer the following ques- was the mass action that it announced the arrival of tions: Which needs do people want to satisfy by wit- rock stars and other celebrities in global politics” nessing such events in front of the TV screen? What (Cashmore, 2006, p. 219). Actress and Oscar winner feelings moderate the state of being entertained while Angelina Jolie spoke about Sierra Leone and child sol- at the same time being exposed to scenes of wide- diers on benefit dinners; Sharon Stone and Tom Hanks spread poverty? asked the world to join the fight against AIDS; George First, charitainment actions offer a platform for, Clooney, Michael Douglas, and Charlize Theron com- and visualization of, the specific needs of poor people. mitted themselves as UN Messengers of Peace. The Visibility becomes the watchword for today’s organi- question in this content is: “If celebrities can sell mate- zations, because people are overnewsed; entertainment rial goods as part of public relations or endorsement media try to catch the public’s attention with celebri- campaigns, can they not expand on their status and sell ty’s filters. Those have an affective impact because the ideas in a sense of commitment on an issues-specific personalized messages involve emotions which trigger basis?” (Cooper, 2008, p. 10). empathy through what people witness. Empathy func- The huge amount of donations from celebrities tions as a motor that mobilizes the public to donate today expands every year. As reported in People mag- because people identify with ill or poor people’s basic azine, The Giving Back Fund compiled a list of celebri- requirements. The process of identification and empa- ties who made the largest personal public donations to thy can help in satisfying needs. Here we call attention charity in 2006. Talk master Oprah Winfrey heads the to Maslow’s needs pyramid, which he developed to table. She donated or pledged over $58,300,000 to dif- explain why people manifest different needs at differ- ferent groups (www.givingback.org). It seems as if ent times and how different needs build on each other.

8— VOLUME 28 (2009) NO. 2 COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRENDS He invented the hierarchy of human needs (1943, entertainment and new perspectives (third win) and 1954) which posited physiological needs such as sur- global-problems gain public consideration (fourth vival at the bottom of the pyramid, followed by needs win). However, this does not mean that only money can for safety, belongingness and love, esteem, and self- solve problems. actualization. Once people have experienced the satis- History has taught us that giving money to a poor faction of one level of need, they tend to understand country can make them dependent on the donor coun- how other people must feel if they experience the same try and that local people will not develop a sense of stage in their life. Therefore one develops an empathic personal contribution as long as they suffer from understanding of how people must feel if they suffer dependency and its benefits. However, experiencing from hunger. Koltko-Rivera (2006) argues that the empathy and identification provokes specific feelings inclusion of self-transcendence beyond self-actualiza- toward justice in the world. It highlights the fact that tion in Maslow’s hierarchy also allows for a richer con- people spend too much time on trivia and ignore mat- ceptualization of the meaning-of-life worldview ters of life and death to other people. It relativitizes dimension. It includes the forming of a sense of the daily life and places it in a broader perspective purpose of life (p. 310). In other words, if people watch (Poniewozik, 2005). Guilt, an emotional state, occurs the Live Aid concerts for example, it can motivate them when individuals violate their own understanding of to achieve a better sense of altruism. This occurs what they should do. It can therefore have a great effect because, first, they suffer with starving people as they on charitable donation. Basil, Ridgway, and Basil know how it must feel and, second, they experience (2006) show that a sense of responsibility mediates the self-transcendence as a motivational step beyond self- effect of guilt on charitable donations. The presence of actualization when they realize that there is a broader others also enhances the sense of responsibility to global sense-of-life than self-actualization and self- behave prosocially. This sense of responsibility then achievement. leads to a larger charitable donation (pp. 1035-1054). Logically, the charity event might serve as a rep- To summarize, Maslow’s pyramid of needs pro- utation-buliding strategy, and the ethical question also vides an apt explanation of the effect of charitainment. concerns the perspective of the celebrities and the The charitainment event affects the viewers on an emo- needs which they want to satisfy with their appearance. tional level and can influence the way one identifies Are they really driven by altruism or are they only with people and explains why one develops empathy interested in connecting the image of their own person- towards them. Celebrities can work as role models and ality in the minds of the public to the image of a social hence provoke prosocial behavior, which in turn can worker who cares about poverty? Keep in mind that lead to larger charitable donations. The theory explains such an event holds great interest for TV stations and what motivates people to integrate a better understand- other organizations involved because of the money that ing of the “meaning-of-life” into their worldview in an circulates. One could argue that it is a “win-win-win- altruistic way. Finally, the perception of the needs of win situation” because TV stations gain audience (first other people is moderated by feelings of guilt, respon- win), celebrities gain attention combined with a posi- sibility, mercy, and mindfulness—the factors responsi- tive event (second win), the audience members gain ble for the effectiveness of charitainment.

5. Edutainment: Education and Entertainment

Education constitutes a fundamental duty for bility of delinquency” (2005, p. 1). Furthermore, the national governments. Because it offers the promise of lifelong learning credo and the growing emphasis on upward mobility at a time when inequalities of income qualifications in the work place have developed into have continued to grow, many regard education as a new sites for education and its power. This growing stable factor for a nation: Buckingham and Scanlon see education industry provides an instance of the privati- it as “responsible for the moral regulation of children, zation of the provision of education. It raises the fear for keeping idle hands busy, and preventing the possi- that only parents who already have greater economic

COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRENDS VOLUME 28 (2009) NO. 2 — 9 capital can buy the same education for their children, Edutainment materials contribute to a change in thus achieving an educational advantage for their chil- the theoretical concepts of the learning process: from a dren. Because obtaining a good education matters so knowledge-acquisition view of learning to a knowl- much, parents also often ask how they and the schools edge-construction view (Okan, 2003, p. 256). can provide the most effective education. Moreover, Salomon and Almog (1998) have added an The idea that enjoyment can contribute to the interpersonal view of learning to the knowledge con- effectiveness of a student’s intrinsic motivation has a struction view in which social interaction serves a vari- long history. Since 1990 interest has surged in devel- ety of crucial functions. They assert that cognitive and oping edutainment software to provide an effective emotional effort decisively contributes to meaningful learning situation while allowing the students to have learning. Interactivity, provided by edutainment soft- fun. However, the actual idea that enjoyment con- ware for example, is the new magic word that should tributes to meaningful learning goes back at least to guarantee children’s engagement. Typically, this con- the Montessori School and to the concept of “flow,” sists of limited interactivity, clicking away at the inter- in which the existence of intrinsic motivation plays a face or completing multiple-choice tests (Buckingham crucial role. Rathunde and Csikszentmihalyi explain & Scalon, 2005, p. 51). flow in this way: The concept of “flow,” an intrinsi- Edutainment material can contribute to the stu- cally motivated, task-focused state is characterized dents’ motivation to learn and explore topics in greater by full concentration, a change in the awareness of depth. While motivation depends on a complex mix of time (time passing quickly), feelings of clarity and intrinsic and extrinsic factors, intrinsic motivation control, a merging of action and awareness, and a tends to hold the key to meaningful learning: intrinsi- lack of self-consciousness (2005, p. 62). They argue cally motivated students work harder and persist longer that the experience of “flow” proves a key factor in (Okan, 2003, p. 259). Intrinsic motivation arises from education and provides one mechanism to achieve many sources in a school setting, such as a variety of success and happiness in life. Maria Montessori resources and solutions, so motivating learners (1876-1952), for example, promoted schools that involves more than just adding entertainment value or combined discipline and freedom. And it was pre- buying learning software. Students have to be engaged cisely “this kind of experience that unites immediate in the material and motivated to learn more about a enjoyment with concentrated work” (Rathunde & specific topic. Not every learning process can be fla- Csikszentmihalyi, 2005, p. 76). vored with fun. Studying for a university degree might This section develops the idea of the hybridiza- be an experience devoid of fun, because students have tion of entertainment and education. First, we will out- to persist in the learning process and can not choose to line the concept of edutainment, mainly used as a tech- study only when they experience intrinsic motivation. nical term that refers to edutainment software (for The question arises that if authorities wish to example computer programs) to provide fun for brains. implement the co-existence of education and entertain- Second, we will explore in greater depth the strategy of ment within the learning environment, how much entertainment-education campaigns that groups have “edu” and how much “tainment” should they include specifically used to increase audience members’ (Okan, 2003, p. 262)? The argument favors the soft- knowledge on educational and health issues. This con- ware that engages students in learning rather than play- cept holds particular importance because it includes ing with the software. Hence, Okan concludes her communication theories which explain the process of essay with the logical implication of the absolute how a popular culture product can have an enduring necessity of educational and parental critical awareness effect on peoples’ educational efforts. of a deeper understanding of the role of entertainment A. Edutainment Media software (p. 263). The consequences of these develop- ments just described and the new awareness of these Edutainment refers to a hybridization of education resources provide a further instance of the growing and entertainment. It includes visual material and a nar- importance of commercial involvement in education. rative or game-like format that provides a learning process (Buckingham & Scanlon, 2005, p. 46). It attracts B. Entertainment-Education: Create Favorable the attention of the learners by engaging their emotions Attitudes (Okan, 2003, p. 255) and raises learners’ expectations The theory of entertainment-education describes that they will find learning enjoyable and fun. another approach to the hybridization of education and

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