An experienced professional with extensive knowledge on topics such as migration (namely emigration and immigration) and women’s equality, William “Bill” Ryerson is the founder and president of Population Media Center (PMC), a leading creator of serialized dramas that promote ideas of positive behavior change by providing role models through their characters. The methodology employed by Bill Ryerson’s company in creating its TV and Web series is an adaptation of the Sabido methodology, created by Miguel Sabido in the 1970s as a way to promote relevant social values using telenovelas.
Sabido’s original methodology, which focused on the promotion of social development goals like literacy and family planning, involved the inclusion of the theme of family harmony the key to successful family planning, notably in his second telenovela Acompáñame. The success of the series, which ran for nine months in the late 1970s, led to a dramatic increase in phone calls to the Mexican government’s national population council with inquiries about family planning information, a 23 percent increase in contraceptive sales, and a 33 percent increase in women enrolling in family planning clinics. Sabido developed several additional telenovelas throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, the end result being a 34 percent decline in Mexico’s population growth rate, an accomplishment that earned Mexico the United Nations Population Prize in May 1986.
The Sabido Methodology was strategically drawn from five scientifically developed theories of communication and behavior change. Likewise, PMC’s methodology relies on extensive research for the production of its programs. This formative research includes conducting several studies including a literature review, an analysis of each airing country’s Demographic and Health Survey, and a media analysis, among others, over the course of at least three months. All PMC dramas are created as a result of extensive research, to ensure that these shows will have a meaningful and significant impact on the countries they reach.
Sabido’s original methodology, which focused on the promotion of social development goals like literacy and family planning, involved the inclusion of the theme of family harmony the key to successful family planning, notably in his second telenovela Acompáñame. The success of the series, which ran for nine months in the late 1970s, led to a dramatic increase in phone calls to the Mexican government’s national population council with inquiries about family planning information, a 23 percent increase in contraceptive sales, and a 33 percent increase in women enrolling in family planning clinics. Sabido developed several additional telenovelas throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, the end result being a 34 percent decline in Mexico’s population growth rate, an accomplishment that earned Mexico the United Nations Population Prize in May 1986.
The Sabido Methodology was strategically drawn from five scientifically developed theories of communication and behavior change. Likewise, PMC’s methodology relies on extensive research for the production of its programs. This formative research includes conducting several studies including a literature review, an analysis of each airing country’s Demographic and Health Survey, and a media analysis, among others, over the course of at least three months. All PMC dramas are created as a result of extensive research, to ensure that these shows will have a meaningful and significant impact on the countries they reach.