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Explores processes of social change initiated by an entertainment-education radio soap opera by studying its effects in an observational case study in one rural village in India. Investigates the paradoxes, contradictions, and audience members' struggles in the process of media-stimulated change, a process involving parasocial interaction, peer communication, and collective efficacy. (SR)

The function of communication in the empowerment process of female dairy farmers in India was studied. A program that specifically extracts data from the theoretical views of Paulo Freire and Saul Alinsky regarding empowerment was used. Findings showed that female dairy farmers who were a part of the communication program were more empowered compared to the female dairy farmers who did not participate.

The article reports on the implications of public affairs media such as public service-themed film towards the development of public awareness in Afghanistan. The author cites the novel "Sada," digital audio device as a significant factor in the political education of women in Afghanistan. After watching the video presentation of "Sada," Afghan women realized their rights such the right to vote as well as their fundamental rights as women. The video helped them realized their inherent power as citizens and the presentation also gave them a hint as regards how to choose the right candidate. Some of the Afghan women even claimed that the movie made them brave and encourage them to fight for their rights.

Maternal death has implications for the entire family, although few, if any, interventions have addressed the role that the husband could play in his wife's pregnancy and delivery. The Suami SIAGA Campaign in Indonesia was a multi-media entertainment-education intervention, implemented in 1999/2000, that targeted husbands with messages about birth preparedness. The present paper presents the effects of this campaign (1) on the acquisition of new knowledge by husbands about birth preparedness, and (2) on husbands' action toward becoming an alert husband (a Suami SIAGA). When husbands were directly exposed to the messages from the Suami SIAGA campaign, new knowledge gain and birth preparedness activities occurred. However, the interaction of direct exposure to the campaign and the interpersonal communication stimulated by the campaign about Suami SIAGA was an even stronger predictor of knowledge gain and birth preparedness actions. Limitations of the study included post-only measures and a relatively short time period between the intervention and impact evaluation. We suggest that communication campaigns to educate husbands and to stimulate discussion about the innovative concept of birth preparedness may contribute to improved birth outcomes in Indonesia.