Entertainment Education and social change: Evaluating a children's soap opera in Kenya

This article discusses audience responses to a children's soap opera produced and broadcast in Kenya. It examines the evaluation process in relation to qualitative audience research within Cultural Studies. It challenges an Entertainment–Education model of media as vehicles for messages and links strongly with Communication for Social Change priorities in which media are the facilitators. In such an approach this soap opera should not only fit into the cultural and social contexts of its child audience but should actively promote discussion and the interactive negotiation of meaning. The narratives address post conflict concerns of democracy, rights, peace and reconciliation, encouraging dialogue with peers and family about extremely difficult issues. The question is how we evaluate and assess such processes.

► The article explores the audience response to a children's soap opera in Kenya.
► The author argues that media productions aimed at education in development contexts need to prioritise audience interaction and dialogue rather than the transmission of information.
► The article outlines the development from Entertainment-Education to Communication for Social Change.
► It discusses the ways in which the evaluation of media in development can learn from debates within Cultural Studies audience research.