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Broadcast from 1985-1989, Naseberry Street was a Jamaican radio soap opera created by Elaine Perkins and sponsored by the Jamaican National Family Planing Program. The radio soap was created to encourage men and women of child-bearing age to better their lives and their children's prospects by limiting the number of children they bring into the world.
Communication Strategies:
Naseberry Street is the story of a nurse who tries to introduce family planning practices into a highly prolific area of Jamaica. The characters in Naseberry Street and what happens to them are the message. The listener learns from knowing that a woman's prospects have been blotted by teenage pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy, traumatic abortion, or abandonment. A leading character in the drama is <span style="font-weight: bold">Scattershot</span> :dw;:, whose outrageous behavior is intended as negative role model. Using the "soft-sell" approach, family planning is not heavily promoted in this drama; the philosophy here is that if listeners understand the messages portrayed in the characters' lives, they will find the services to help them take action on their own.
Approximately 750 episodes of the 15-minute radio drama aired 3 times per week.
Development Issues:
Family Planning, Population.
Key Points:
Naseberry Street reached over 40% of the population of Jamaica. It received public and private sector support, becoming self-sufficient in its second year of broadcast. The programme was pirated to other Caribbean countries and even to other regions of the world.
Partner Text:
Jamaican National Family Planning Program, Jamaica Information Services, and University of the West Indies (evaluation).
Source:
"The Use of Mainstream Media to Encourage Social Responsibility: The International Experience" - The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation - Prepared by: Jennifer Daves and Liza Nickerson - The Media Project.
A survey of 2000 randomly selected respondents 18 years and older in Jamaica revealed listenership islandwide to the Naseberry Street family planning radio soap opera. 40% of the sample was from the country's main urban center and 60% from the rural areas of the 12 other parishes. The survey focus was the size and intensity of the listenership, the impact of the program, and the rating of the program and its usefulness for educational purposes. Females revealed a high level of listenership, an appreciably higher level than males. For both males and females, and below 30 or younger age cohorts showed consistently higher listenership than respondents in the age 30 and above group. For the males, rural listenership was somewhat higher, but no significant urban-rural difference emerged among the women. Women admitted to a greater degree being influenced by the program than men. The younger adults reflected a considerably higher perception of being influenced by the program than the older age groups. No large urban/rural differences were evident, and there were no appreciably large or consistent class differences in these responses. Females, younger persons, and especially unemployed individuals reflected a high degree of discussion of the program. Many listeners acknowledged learning lessons from the program. Except for the unemployed, Naseberry Street female listeners showed a higher level of contraceptive use than the general level of use in the sample as a whole. Middle-class women and younger lower-class women who were not unemployed revealed a positive pattern of contraceptive practice that most likely was either aided or reinforced by the exposure to the program. The rural and urban unemployed women who were mainly under age 30 showed no evident impact of the program as their level of contraceptive use was below the sample's overall level. 72% of the sample rated the program as good, 19% refused to comment, and 9% expressed ambivalence. The main reasons given for the positive rating were its entertainment value (30%), its family planning and birth control lessons (18%), and its value as a human interest story (22%). A majority supported the use of the program in the schools. In sum, overall Naseberry Street listeners showed higher contraceptive use than nonlisteners, suggesting that the program is most likely reinforcing family planning behavior.
Communication Strategies:
Naseberry Street is the story of a nurse who tries to introduce family planning practices into a highly prolific area of Jamaica. The characters in Naseberry Street and what happens to them are the message. The listener learns from knowing that a woman's prospects have been blotted by teenage pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy, traumatic abortion, or abandonment. A leading character in the drama is <span style="font-weight: bold">Scattershot</span> :dw;:, whose outrageous behavior is intended as negative role model. Using the "soft-sell" approach, family planning is not heavily promoted in this drama; the philosophy here is that if listeners understand the messages portrayed in the characters' lives, they will find the services to help them take action on their own.
Approximately 750 episodes of the 15-minute radio drama aired 3 times per week.
Development Issues:
Family Planning, Population.
Key Points:
Naseberry Street reached over 40% of the population of Jamaica. It received public and private sector support, becoming self-sufficient in its second year of broadcast. The programme was pirated to other Caribbean countries and even to other regions of the world.
Partner Text:
Jamaican National Family Planning Program, Jamaica Information Services, and University of the West Indies (evaluation).
Source:
"The Use of Mainstream Media to Encourage Social Responsibility: The International Experience" - The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation - Prepared by: Jennifer Daves and Liza Nickerson - The Media Project.
A survey of 2000 randomly selected respondents 18 years and older in Jamaica revealed listenership islandwide to the Naseberry Street family planning radio soap opera. 40% of the sample was from the country's main urban center and 60% from the rural areas of the 12 other parishes. The survey focus was the size and intensity of the listenership, the impact of the program, and the rating of the program and its usefulness for educational purposes. Females revealed a high level of listenership, an appreciably higher level than males. For both males and females, and below 30 or younger age cohorts showed consistently higher listenership than respondents in the age 30 and above group. For the males, rural listenership was somewhat higher, but no significant urban-rural difference emerged among the women. Women admitted to a greater degree being influenced by the program than men. The younger adults reflected a considerably higher perception of being influenced by the program than the older age groups. No large urban/rural differences were evident, and there were no appreciably large or consistent class differences in these responses. Females, younger persons, and especially unemployed individuals reflected a high degree of discussion of the program. Many listeners acknowledged learning lessons from the program. Except for the unemployed, Naseberry Street female listeners showed a higher level of contraceptive use than the general level of use in the sample as a whole. Middle-class women and younger lower-class women who were not unemployed revealed a positive pattern of contraceptive practice that most likely was either aided or reinforced by the exposure to the program. The rural and urban unemployed women who were mainly under age 30 showed no evident impact of the program as their level of contraceptive use was below the sample's overall level. 72% of the sample rated the program as good, 19% refused to comment, and 9% expressed ambivalence. The main reasons given for the positive rating were its entertainment value (30%), its family planning and birth control lessons (18%), and its value as a human interest story (22%). A majority supported the use of the program in the schools. In sum, overall Naseberry Street listeners showed higher contraceptive use than nonlisteners, suggesting that the program is most likely reinforcing family planning behavior.
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