Page 23 - A Handbook Genre Studies in Mass Media

CHAPTER 2

for informing the public about social issues. A joint report by the United
Nations program on AIDS and the World Health Organization (2002)
found that popular genres aimed at AIDS prevention appear to be making
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a difference across the globe. To illustrate, Population Communica-
tions International (PCI), a New York–based nonprofit group, developed
partnerships with media outlets around the world to incorporate social
messages into popular genres:

• A serial drama developed by PCI in partnership with China’s CCTV,
Ordinary People features a female heroine whose story promotes
the acceptance of girl children. In scripts scheduled for broadcast
in 2007, she persuades villagers to accept and support a character
whose heterosexual promiscuity has led to AIDS.
• A PCI radio show broadcast in the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia
used “catapult” as a euphemism for condoms to test public aware-
ness of the program’s emphasis on safe sex practices and family
planning. People who did not even listen to the show were familiar
with “catapults”—so much so that a locally produced condom with
that name is now the country’s best-selling brand.
• A PCI radio show that began airing in 2002 in India promotes safe sex
practices and family planning; it was developed in conjunction with
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Jamani, an Indian network of 25,000 rural health care providers.
• In the South African version of Sesame Street (Takalani Sesame),
one of the Muppets is Kami, who is HIV positive. The presence of
Kami on the program promotes an awareness of AIDS among its
young audience.

Persuasion. The persuasion function occurs when a communicator’s
objective is to promote a particular idea or motivate the audience to
action. For instance, advertising attempts to persuade consumers to
purchase their products.
At other times, programming is designed to influence the audience with
respect to political and social issues. For instance, in 2005 two mini-series
were produced on Arab television stations and broadcast throughout the
Arab region, which were timed to coincide with Ramadan, a period in
which families gathered nightly to break their fast—and watch TV. The
function of each series was to focus attention on the damage that extrem-
ism is wrecking on the Arab world. At 11 P.M., the Saudi-owned Middle
East Broadcasting Company presented Hour el Ayn, or The Beautiful

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