His approach worked with immunization, too, in a way that was mentionable and manageable, by paralleling some of the central tenets of inoculation theory.

Josh Compton & Alicia Mason

Entertainment education research has shown that television programs can communicate important health information to viewers, for better (e.g., Murrar & Brauer, 2017) or for worse (e.g., Serrone et ah, 2018; Thomas et al., 2018)-and can even influence viewers who are in the health profession (e.g., Hoffman et ah, 2018). Much of this research focuses on media effects (e.g., behavioral intention of viewers, post-viewing; attitudinal change, post-viewing). Less is known about the rhetorical strategies employed in such health entertainment messaging. This essay offers a rhetorical analysis of immunization messaging on the children’s television program, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. We use inoculation theory as the basis for our rhetorical analysis, which is an established means for guiding health communication messaging (Compton et ah, 2016). We argue that, aptly, Fred Rogers’ rhetorical framing mirrored that of the inoculation theory of resistance to influence, presenting “weak” challenges to his young viewers to help them to build resistance to stronger challenges encountered later.

Compton, J., & Mason, A. (2021). Immunization communication in ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’: Inoculation theory, health messaging, and children’s entertainment television. Midwest Quarterly 63(1), 11-18. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/immunization-communication-mister-rogers/docview/2588479528/se-2?accountid=10422

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