HH&S Director Buffington Interviewed for BBC News Radio Report on Soap Operas and the Power of Education Entertainment
HH&S Director Sandra de Castro Buffington was recently interviewed for a BBC News radio report on the impact that soap operas and serial dramas have had in changing the world, providing what the BBC News website called “educational entertainment—a blend of public service messages and melodrama—that has enraptured millions of viewers.”
“Some of these programs have evolved into subtle but sophisticated forms of social commentary that educate and inform,” the report said.
In discussing the role that Hollywood, Health & Society has played in working with some of the top TV shows, Buffington said: “We take them real stories of real people, and case studies. We don’t pitch storylines. We respect writers as the mastery storytellers … they’re the experts. We inspire them.” ➻Listen to an audio clip of Buffington’s interview.
In a story that accompanies the radio report, the BBC News World Service website listed some of the topics that soap operas have covered, including adult literacy, tolerance for gays and sexual health.