How to Write a Radio Serial Drama for Social Development- PDF

Prologue
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and does occur on more than the individual and interpersonal levels. Serial drama can strike a chord
with listeners on a personal basis while, at the same time, reflecting the concerns of society as a whole.
Such drama puts people in touch with their world, helping them address their personal concerns and
those of society at the same time. The most successful social change dramas are those that, because of
their popularity, are discussed by many people and become a part of the society's mainstream of
popular culture.
The entire design team, including the writers, should appreciate the larger context of the radio
drama when creating scripts. Radio dramas while written to be heard by individual listeners become
part of the overall flow of information within a society. Other information from groups, organizations,
and society will affect how audience members listen to, understand, and react to the drama. Some of
that information will support the radio drama's message, while some will oppose it. Sometimes a radio
drama is designed to be part of a larger social change project that employs multiple levels of
communication. In this case, the radio script should complement and reinforce the overall flow of
project activities and messages. The design document (which is described in Chapter 2) provides full
details on how the drama will fit into the overall project and what levels of communication should be
included in the scripts.
Modern Theories of Communication
Until the 1960s, communication theories used in programs to support social change focused primarily on
the individual and interpersonal levels of communication. Contemporary research, however, shows that all
four levels of communication are interconnected: society and its institutions influence individuals, who, in
turn, influence the larger social and institutional groups of which they are members. For example,
prevailing social values undoubtedly influence individual behavior, while individual behavior and
expressions of opinion help shape social values. Therefore, more recent communication theories describe a
balance across levels of communication.
Four major communication theories are relevant to radio drama for social change.
❖ Persuasion Theory
While its origins date back to the work of Aristotle in the 4th century B.C., modern persuasion theory
(McGuire, 1987) grew out of psychological research in the late 1930s to 1950s on attitude and behavior
change. Persuasion theory focuses on psychological characteristics that affect a person’s perception of and
response to messages, including:
• Knowledge and skills;
• Attitudes towards behavioral and social issues;
• Predispositions or preferences;
• Beliefs and concerns about the behavior and its consequences; and
• Attitudes towards the source of the message.
Many of these are related to demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, ethnic group, income, and
level of education. An understanding of them can help the design team to determine the type of messages
and the type of story that are most likely to prove effective with their chosen audience.
Persuasion theory also draws attention to the importance of message factors and source factors in
influencing an audience (Petty and Cacioppo, 1981). Message factors are the characteristics of a message
that make it appropriate and effective for a particular audience: how long or complex it should be, what
language or vocabulary is best, in what order the messages should be presented, whether one side or both
sides of an issue should be presented, how much repetition is needed to get the message across, and
whether the message should use fear, humor, or logic to make its point. Different audiences will have
different preferences for message style.