Harnessing the potential of entertainment-education telenovelas

The enormous economic, political and social problems of the developing world call for creating effective, equitable, and socially responsible mass media programs that will solve human problems and benefit society. The present article investigates the use of the entertainment-education strategy in mass communication, especially focusing on the potential of telenovelas in addressing problems of national development. We trace the diffusion of the entertainment-education telenovelas from Mexico to other developing countries, and distill the lessons learned to date about the conditions (for instance, the physical and human resources) needed in a country to successfully design and implement the entertainment-education strategy. The entertainment-education strategy Political revolutions, economic uncertainties, impending environmental catastrophes, infectious diseases, and unsupported population growth are but a few of the enormous challenges that face developing countries in the 1990s. The rapid political, social, and economic transitions in Second and Third W orId nations are producing a critical demand for creating effective, equitable, and socially acceptable mass communication systems that will benefit society. The use of the media to solve human problems and improve the quality of life depends on the successful implementation of mass communication strategies that promote development. The entertainment-education strategy in mass communication represents an innovative approach to addressing problems of development. Entertainment-education is defined as the process of putting educational content in entertainment messages in order to increase knowledge about an issue, create favorable attitudes, and change overt behavior concerning the