By Aric Noboa | President, Discovery Learning Alliance
Earlier this fall, world leaders gathered in New York City for the 71st United Nations General Assembly. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - which lay out a path toward a more equitable and sustainable future - were at the top of the agenda.
What if we could harness the power of today’s mass media - TV (on all types of screens), movies, radio, etc. - to advance the ambitious global agenda set forth in the SDGs?
Media has the power to shape the conversations in our minds, our families, and our communities. To be clear, this is not just about awareness-raising. That’s important, but media can do more. Generally speaking, businesswomen in Tokyo know AIDS has devastated communities and stay-at-home dads in Chicago know clean water is an unmet need in much of the world. We can create and distribute media that can change the conversation, but also shift individual behavior and excite community action.
To be sure, this is already happening. There are exciting examples of media being used to make communities healthier, classrooms more dynamic and societies more just.
MTVShuga is a TV drama increasing responsible sexual behavior in several countries across Africa.
Satyamev Jayate is an Indian TV talk show that provides solutions to social issues like child sexual abuse, alcoholism and domestic violence.
And this year, we made a Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action to write, produce, and distribute a scripted, feature film, The Lucky Specials.
Most people have heard about TB but few people know much about it. How do you inform the public about a familiar disease in a fresh, new way? And how do you reach an audience that varies from the hyper connected urbanite to the remote villager? It’s taken a community of organizations – MSH, DLA, Quizzical Pictures, HHMI Wellcome Trust and USAID/PEPFAR to produce “The Lucky Specials,” which will help audiences in southern Africa better understand and respond to tuberculosis, empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their health.
There has never been a better time for media to change the world, particularly with the continued proliferation of smart phones and connectivity in the developing world and continued organic growth of free-to-air and pay-TV in emerging markets.
If we make the most of visual storytelling as a tool for development and social justice, we can take a giant leap toward meeting the SDGs.
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