About The Media Project—Mission & Strategies
 Mission
Advocates
for Youth has long recognized the educational value
of television. For over 20 years, Advocates' Los Angeles-based
Media Project has worked with the entertainment industry
to place sexual health information and responsible sexual
health images on television. The Media Project, located
in the heart of Hollywood, has had a significant impact
on such popular television shows as E.R., Dawson's Creek,
Felicity, Moesha, Boston Public, Strong Medicine, and Judging
Amy, among many others. Last year alone, the project
was directly responsible for helping the industry to
include accurate sexual health content and relevant story
lines
into more than 40 episodes of various popular television
shows, reaching well over 30 million Americans.
Advocates for Youth is the only national non-profit organization
focusing exclusively on adolescent reproductive health
in both the United States and in developing
countries. Advocates' primary focus is on providing information, training,
and technical assistance to educators and other youth-serving professionals,
policy makers, the media, and youth activists about what works in adolescent
sexual health.
STRATEGIES
- The
HELPline—Staffing a "hotline" for
the entertainment industry, the Media Project
provides prompt assistance in researching sexual
and reproductive health issues for television
and film writers, producers, and directors.
Statistics, background material, research data,
referral
to experts, script consultation, and support
in crafting storylines are available to the
more than 100 shows that contact the Media
Project's
Helpline each year.
- Tailored
Meetings with Producers, Directors, and Writers
and with Network Executives—Systematically
identifying television shows that it might
benefit, the Media Project meets with writers,
directors,
and producers of top programs, providing
tailored technical assistance, ideas for
storylines, and
up-to-date information on sexual health issues
pertinent to the individual shows.
Staff also meets with network executives,
encouraging network support for messages
about respecting youth's right to act responsibly
and about society's
responsibility to provide youth with the information and services they
need to make healthy decisions about sex.
- Industry-Wide Informational
Briefings—Bridging the gap between
the entertainment industry, sexual health experts,
and teens, the Media Project coordinates three
informational briefings each year. Always attended
by more than 50 entertainment industry professionals,
each briefing explores in depth a "hot" topic
in teen sexual health. The briefings give Hollywood's
writers, producers, and directors opportunities
to speak directly with young people and other
experts regarding adolescent sexual health.
The Media Project
269 S. Beverly Drive, No. 721
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Phone: 310.430.3995
E-mail: healthytv@themediaproject.com
Web: www.themediaproject.com
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