PCI-Media Impact

November 10, 2008 - PCI-Media Impact was spotlighted on the CSRwire website on November 6th, as part of the national Business for Social Responsibility Conference held in New York City. The conference brought together 1,300 leaders from 50 countries to the world’s largest and most influential corporate responsibility event. See the posting by visiting: http://www.csrwire.com

PCI Media Impact and Calandria Premiere
Con el Viento al Favor (With the Wind in My Sails)
The Documentary Film

November 4, 2008- PCI-Media Impact, a not-for-profit organization that produces social change TV and radio programs around the world, along with its long-time Latin American partner, Calandria Association of Social Communicators (La Asociación de Comunicadores Sociales Calandria), are pleased to premiere on our YOUTUBE CHANNEL, a documentary film about the radio program Con el Viento al Favor (With the Wind in My Sails).

The radio drama is the third jointly produced radio series made with Calandria Association of Social Communicators (Calandria) since 2002. Con e l Viento al Favor was broadcast by six radio stations in northern and southern Peru in 2007 as part of locally produced call-in radio shows that involved the dialogue of adults and youths.

Spanish Language Website Launched
New Resources Available for Spanish-speaking partners

October 15, 2008 - PCI-Media Impact announced today the launch of a new Spanish language website (es.mediaimpact.org). The new site facilitates the exchange of knowledge, ideas and experiences between our partners in Latin America. There are many resources available to professionals in English on how to use behavior change communications, but little is available in Spanish. Central to PCI-Media Impact's approach is the concept of cooperation and partnership. As strong strong believers in mutual support and shared learning, we developed this site as a resource tool for our local partners, and as a device to educate professionals in other Spanish-speaking countries about the effectiveness of our model.

The new website, featuring interactive applications such as forums, downloadable audios and resources, and a blog, provides users with valuable information and examples on how to use media as a tool for social change, and offers a space for organizations, media producers and broadcasters to share and exchange lessons learned. You can visit the site at http://es.mediaimpact.org/

To see the English translation of the website, visit the translation facilitated by Translate Google that can be seen here.

PCI-Media Impact Announces the Appointment of
Alan Court to the Board of Directors

October 1, 2008 - Fred Cohen, the Chairman of PCI-Media Impact, a leading international NGO , today announced that Alan Court had joined its Board of Directors. Mr. Court is currently Senior Advisor to the United Nation's Secretary General's Special Envoy for Malaria. PCI-Media Impact's mission is to improve health, promote human rights and bring social advancement through the creative use of media.

"PCI-Media Impact will benefit considerably from Alan's worldwide experience," said PCI-Media Impact Board Chair, Fred Cohen. "Given our ambitious strategic and creative plans and the complex decisions we face as an international organization, I am very pleased and honored that PCI-Media Impact can attract such an influential and experienced person to our board of directors."

Said Mr. Court, "I have long understood the central role media plays in the successful implementation of programs and in helping create a demand for appropriate goods and services," said Mr. Court. "PCI-Media Impact's long experience in engaging the individuals and communities to make smart choices about how to improve their health and the real impact it makes is exactly what I have been doing for over thirty years."

Until his recent retirement from UNICEF, Mr. Court was the Director of the UNICEF Programme Division and had previously been posted in Latin America, Africa and South Asia. As the Director of the UNICEF Programme Division, he oversaw the centre piece of UNICEF's work. He led the division's strategy development, program guidance and implementation processes and was responsible for seeing UNICEF's programs were focussed on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

<<see full release by clicking here>>

The power of TV in the developing world
A discussion with the Wall Street Journal

September 6, 2008 - Jason Lahart, who covers economics, wrote a front page article for the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal discussing the positive impact television has had on audiences in the developing world. PCI-Media Impact, Executive Director Michael Castlen, warns in the article how well intentioned campaigns create unforeseen consequences if not well planned and researched.

"Sometimes the effects of television shows are unexpected. Michael Castlen, executive director at PCI-Media Impact, a New York-based nonprofit organization that produces television and radio shows to promote health, human rights and social change, cites "América," a popular telenovela, or soap opera, that aired in Brazil in 2005. It depicted the lives of people who had illegally immigrated into the U.S. in harsh terms, concentrating on the dangers and prejudices they faced.

But for many poor Brazilians, the hardships portrayed in "América" seemed small in comparison to the money the characters were sending home, Mr. Castlen says, making going to the U.S. seem worthwhile. Authorities apprehended three times as many Brazilians in the U.S. illegally in the fiscal year ended Sept. 2005 as in the previous year, according to the Department of Homeland Security."

August 25, 2008 – PCI-Media Impact, a not-for-profit organization that produces social change television and radio programs around the world, was recently awarded Outstanding Photograph by InterAction for James Rodriguez’s snapshot of Guatemalan children participating in a clean-up of their neighborhood in San Pedro, Guatemala.

To address the unhealthy waste management practices in rural Mayan-Quiche speaking Guatemala, PCI-Media Impact partnered with local radio stations and local organization LaAsociacion Juventud Kiche to produce the radio serial drama Jach b’al Re Loq’ b’al K’u’x(The Love Recycle). The drama featured two of PCI-Media Impact’s most recognizable character types: Chelly, an 18 year old woman who wants to improve the earning potential of her father’s farm, and Don Tavo, Chelly’s father who become ill after struggling to make the farm a success. The drama unfolds as the Tavo family attempts and fails in attempt after attempt to raise different crops. With no success, the family starts recycling inorganic materials and finally establishes a secure income for the family.

The drama was at the core of the radio magazine, Uj Mox pero Uj saq (Crazy but Clean), which featured not only the radio drama, but also call-in discussions with experts in environmental protection and conversation and recycling. From the radio program, the local communities of El Quiche, Totonicapán, Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango, San Marcos and Cobán changed their attitudes toward the environment. The program mobilized local youth, who listened to the program in school each day, to organize a clean up of their towns. The award-winning photograph captures one of those initiatives.

“Rodriguez’a photograph depicts PCI-Media Impact’s work to build grassroots social movements around some the greatest issues facing the world. Through this innovative program, we have energized a new generation of youth leaders and environmentalists. Most importantly, the message that environmental stewardship can be a fun, social activity for children is coming through loud in clear in this amazing photograph,” explains Michael Castlen, Executive Director of PCI-Media Impact.

Jach b’al Re Loq b’al K’u'x is just one of the 46 radio serial dramas PCI-Media Impact has produced in Latin America in the last four years through its My Community program. My Community empowers underserved communities through PCI-Media Impact’s communication for social change methodology. The design of My Community allows each community to establish sustainable public awareness campaigns around health and economic development. Currently, PCI-Media Impact has 11 radio serial dramas being broadcast throughout Latin America.

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health highlights cost effectiveness of PCI-Media Impact's "My Community" program in 2008 INFO Report Series

August 2008 - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and its Information and Knowledge for Optimal Health (INFO) project, with funding from USAID, released the 2008 INFO Report Series. The series, the first since 2002, aims to share essential information and knowledge about the best practices of reproductive health professionals around the world.

The series publication entitled, Entertainment-Education for Better Health (click here to see publications) recognizes PCI-Media Impact's My Community project as a cost effective method of engaging the community on health issues using mass media. In the chapter Investing in Mass Media:Getting the Most for the Money, the writer uses our work as an important example of success, saying “starting small can help to hold down costs. For example, the organization PCI-Media Impact trains members of community organizations to write and produce radio dramas in its My Community initiative”. The chapter includes additional information about our program and photographs from current programs in Guatemala.

PCI-Media Impact Executive Director, Michael Castlen, served on the advisory review panel for the publication along with other notable colleagues from the field of public health, communications and international development.

PCI Media Impact presents program innovations
at the XVII International AIDS Conference 2008 in Mexico City
Presentation will demonstrate how local broadcast media and storytelling can combat HIV

August 4, 2008- PCI-Media Impact, a not-for-profit organization that produces social change TV and radio programs around the world, along with its long-time Latin American partner, Calandria Association of Social Communicators (La Asociación de Comunicadores Sociales Calandria), will present important program innovations recently developed that spark local community participation using storytelling and local radio to combat HIV and AIDS at the XVII International AIDS Conference 2008 running from August 3 – 8 in Mexico City. << read more in full press release >>

PCI-Media Impact Launches 2008 Program Schedule
11 radio programs will reach 4 million people across Latin American

July 29, 2008 – PCI-Media Impact,a not-for-profit producer of social change TV and radio programs around the world, announced the 2008 broadcast schedule for its My Community radio programs. My Community broadcasts promote social and behavioral change in health, human rights and the environment in communities throughout Latin America using local radio broadcasts. Eleven radio series began broadcasting in June to seven Latin American countries with a signal strengthen estimated to reach more than 4 million people.

The My Community initiative stems from partner organization support throughout Central and South America. The collaboration helps PCI-Media Impact develop an ever-growing network of both grassroots organizations and corporate partnerships, enabling them to form relationships for future programs in impoverished regions. The mission of PCI-Media Impact is to tell stories and save lives by way of advocating, in a combined effort with similar organizations, to promote greater rights and better health through the use of communications. << read more in full press release >>

The Fourth Year of My Community begins with training
in Bogota, Colombia
PCI-Media Impact calls for participants to participate in 2008-09 Program

July 4, 2008 - PCI-Media Impact, a not-for-profit producer of social change TV and radio programs around the world, announced start of the application process for its My Community Training 2008, a social change communications and social marketing workshop to be held in Bogotá, Colombia this fall. PCI-Media Impact’s My Community Training will host 20 diverse individuals from organizations spanning Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, the Andean region, and Brazil, offering creative methodologies to use media for promoting social and behavioral change in health, human rights and the environment. After the training, the organizations will be able to apply their new knowledge and skills producing radio programs that will help them to achieve their goals of generating positive change in their communities.

Through discussing various communication and development strategies, participants will share innovative ideas and personal experiences for educating their communities. In addition, groups will attend lectures and participate in small workshops concerning theoretical bases for PCI-Media Impact’s social communications methodology, as well as learning techniques such as script writing, broadcasting and design of social marketing campaigns.

The program will starts with a training in Bogota, Colombia on November 10-14, 2008. Application deadline is August 30, 2008. For more information contact: Alexander Amézquita alex@pci-mediaimpact.org Tel: Quito, Ecuador: + 593 2-25-5-9012 or Mark Waters mwaters@pci-mediaimpact.org Tel: New York: +212 687 3366

PCI-Media Impact Launches Radio Soap Opera in California
New radio soap operas focus on youth sexual health and offer support to migrants

June 24, 2008 – PCI-Media Impact , a global not-for-profit producer of TV and radio shows in over 25 countries, announced the U.S. premier of the first of four radio serial dramas to be broadcast by the Radio Bilingue network. Radio Bilingue, the Spanish language radio network, will air the programs on six radio stations in California and one in Arizona during the month of June. The program will also be available through its web stream.

The first series will focus on migration issues, with subsequent broadcasts to focus on sexual and reproductive health issues, masculinity/gender roles, and women’s health. The series was co-produced by PCI-Media Impact and El Centro Universitario del Sur (CUSUR) of the University of Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico.

The first drama, Al Otro Lado: Allá está el Dinero, Aquí la Vida (The other side: There is the money, here is life), focuses on a group of women in the twilight of their lives, some who have lived and worked in the US when they were younger. The women have started a cooperative-farm at home in Mexico and are asking the government with assistance in building greenhouses. Finally, without government support, they build the greenhouses themselves, with not a single man involved, as they are all working in the United States. The story provides practical information on government services for Mexican migrants and their families. The show was inspired by, written by and performed by a group of women working in one such cooperative. << read more in full press release >>

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