Dr. Banarsi Lal
For the success of any programme in any sector, effective communication is an important catalyst. The great emphasis on proper communication should be given for the overall development of society. The right message at right time and in right manner is very important because there exists a gap between what people know and what they practice. It has been observed that many programmes do not achieve the desired goals for the reason that message is not communicated effectively to the end users. It has been noticed that in recent years not only formulating effective communication strategy has emerged as one of the prime objectives for the programme implementers but also disseminating information through entertainment has become equally important. Recent studies observed that conveying message if lacks an entertaining input does not make a significant impact even if it is good and correct. Information without entertainment looks more monotonous, boring and impractical. Thus, the scientists observed that to make communication more realistic, approachable and effective, conveying it through some entertainment channel would be more result-oriented. The concept of education through entertainment is felt. It has been studied that if information is humanized, emotions are brought into contact with the message and story characters establish a chord with the audience can make the audience practice what the character feels will work for them.
Communication is the core activity of human association in general and progress as well as development in particular. It is the basic need of human beings and web of society which makes the survival, growth, progress and development of man possible and holds the society intact and progressive. No human life can exist in isolation. A man can survive only in society and the survival in society is possible with communication. Thus, communication is identified as the oldest continued activity of human beings since birth and goes on and on till death. It is a vital part of personal life in the society. It is equally important in business, education, civilization, administration and other situations where people encounter with each other to satisfy their needs and wishes. Electronisation and mechanization in communication systems have provided opportunity to access the information rapidly, accurately and repeatedly. To reach the unreach modern electronic gadgets and systems have been introduced to cope-up the requirements. The government of India has realized the need and utility of these electronic equipments for rural population. Therefore, massive programmes of cyber extension, digital interactive distance learning, online networks, computers aided multimedia, internet and free online telephones etc. have been launched for the society. Some of the major extension technology systems and approaches are being used presently like call centre (18001801551), Cyber Extension, ATIC, computer-internet connectivity etc. Entertainment education is the process of purposively designing and implementing the mass media message to both entertain and educate, in order to increase members’ knowledge about an issue, create favourable attitude, shift social norms and change the overt behaviour of individuals and communities. The mass media programmes must be entertaining and educational. Folk media whether dance or drama or even puppet shows are quite popular among the masses and have impact. With about three-fourth population living in rural areas, folk-based media is quite effective. During the Indian freedom movement, folk media was used to convey patriotic messages and ideas. Thus with such a rich history behind it, it was felt that this media if revamped little professionally could have a bigger impact than any other media. It has been observed by the various research studies that folk media has been preferred by the respondents for getting messages, therefore mixing entertainment with education. Another reason for using folk media as a source of information is that in our country where so many languages are spoken, its use will give economical stability to its artists. Radio and television are very important in conveying messages in an entertaining manner and became popular with the passage of time. Not only in India but also in various other countries, the communication strategies are using serials, sitcoms etc. as medium to convey health and other types of messages. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with Population Communication International (PCI) have instituted an award known as Sentinel for Health Award. This award is given to that television series which raises health related issues in an effective and impressive manner. The purpose of entertainment education is to bring the social change. The change can occur at the level of individual, community or some other system. The entertainment media have a high potential to educate the public on a wide variety of social issues such as gender equality, family planning, environmental protection, agricultural production etc. Entertainment consumption continues to rise steadily in both developed and developing nations. In India, a few serials on television and radio have highlighted relevant issues like gender inequality, caste discrimination, dowry, girls’ education etc. Radio also plays vital role in creating awareness on various social issues among rural population in India. It is still used by the rural people due to its portable character and uncertain power cuts. Radio and television used to have socially relevant topics in their programmes but the format of most of these programmes was either talk-shows or discussions and hence was not very popular among the masses. With the introduction of satellite channels on television, which are mostly entertainment-based and sponsored programmes like Vividh Bharati and FM channels on radio, people now have the choice. The changed system has compelled the social scientists to find out ways for disseminating messages which have good coverage and also are effective. So, came the idea of ‘infotainment’ means information with entertainment. Some other terminologies used are ‘edutainment’ means education through entertainment. In one of the research studies it was found that few regular listeners, most of them youth, inspired by a character of the soap, have started a school for drop out school children of their village. They persuaded parents of some children to send their wards to school. In another incident young boy of senior secondary, who was so inspired by the serial that he made friendship with youth of his age group from another community and also motivated them to make their parents agree to send their sisters to school. In another village class 11th girl along with her teacher and some classmates, convinced parents of her friend to delay marriage.
Interest in the entertainment-education communication strategy is on the rise. It represents a potentially powerful tool for influencing the people attitude and behavior. The entertainment education communication strategy has come way in the past couple of decades. There is a growing realization among the policy makers and practitioners that the entertainment media represent a potentially powerful tool for influencing people attitude and beahviour. By applying the important lessons learned from past entertainment education communication strategies; policy planners can more effectively use their influence and resources for development. The entertainment education strategy should be given more consideration in advancing development. In recent years several additional insights about the nature of entertainment education programmes have been gleaned by designing and researching them from the theoretical viewpoints from the cultural, humanistic and literary traditions. Local folk theatre, dance forms, puppetry, storytelling and other traditional forms of communication have an important role to play in entertainment education projects. Any comprehensive education strategy must harness such pre-existing local, traditional media forms. Further, ways must be found to adapt local folk channels of recreation and education for wider dissemination on the more ubiquitous modern media channels. By considering the importance, usage and relevance of infotainment in other sectors too could be judged by the fact that our national literacy programme, known as Total Literacy Mission have a Kala Jatha, a team of folk artists picked from the same district to perform in villages and motivate illiterate locals to come forward and become literate by joining the movement. Also there are Song and Drama Division, Directorate of Audio and Visual Publicity of the Government of India, Directorate of Field Publicity who use this information through entertainment approach to disseminate the messages for behavioural change. In recent times importance of disseminating information through entertainment media has gained ground. In country like India where there is difficulty to reach in every village, step in this direction can be made by taking lessons from the others and using local resources for each and every programme related to development sector. There is need to harness this tool for development. There are various areas which need further rigorous research to examine the growing potentialities and possibilities of entertainment education strategies that can bring the social change.
(The writer is Sr. Scientist & Head of KVK,
Reasi SKUAST-J).
