Prepared by: Wes Mateo Updated: 3/23/08
Website: http://www.planetread.org/ Mission: PlanetRead is “dedicated to reading and literacy development around the world . . . [It] was originally created around the idea of Same Language Subtitling (SLS), now a globally recognized innovation for mass literacy and reading development on TV.” PlanetRead attempts to improve reading and literacy skills by fusing this “education” with widely consumed entertainment media (thus making it more enjoyable and likely to occur). In short, PlanetRead’s mission is “a reading planet, [where] everyone can read and has access to affordable and interesting reading opportunities in one's native and other language(s).”
Inspiration/History: Brij Kothari (PlanetRead president) was pursuing a master’s degree in communication at Cornell in the mid-90’s, focusing his research work on the conservation of local knowledge in Andean Ecuador. In 1996, while attempting to learn Spanish by watching Spanish television with English subtitles, the thought struck him that Spanish television with Spanish subtitles would actually be more useful for learning the language. This idea of Same Language Subtitling was subsequently researched at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. PlanetRead “pioneered the concept of SLS for mass literacy, by suggesting its implementation on the immensely popular Bollywood film songs on TV in India.” Targeting Bollywood-style film songs in India, PlanetRead has implemented SLS into 10 TV programs in several states/languages around the country. Given that there are 108 million homes in India with a television, and each television is watched on an average by five people, the Indian television viewership number 540 million. PlanetRead leverages this widespread viewership to improve literacy of children and “neoliterates” (people technically literate but with minimal reading skills or abilities). Business Model: Nonprofit Theory of Change: If you can incorporate literacy learning into something millions of people consume every day (televised entertainment media), then you can vastly improve these people’s degree of literacy (by making it more enjoyable and to a large degree “automatic”).
Core Programs:

Doordarshan, India’s National broadcaster, currently carries programs in 10 regional languages nationwide that are accompanied by SLS captioning (interesting note: Doordarshan has seen a 15% increase in viewership on these SLS programs).

Recent Developments (if applicable): · PlanetRead presently trying to scale activities to Africa, South America and South Asia to combat literacy challenges in these countries · PlanetRead is also exploring the implementation of SLS into animated children’s products and folk songs Biography of Brij Kothari: · Grew up in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Pondicherry · Received a Masters in Development Communication and a Ph.D. in Education from Cornell University. Doctoral research focused on the conservation of local knowledge in Andean Ecuador. · “Innovated, researched, and nationalized the use of "Same Language Subtitling" (SLS) on Bollywood film songs on TV, for mass literacy in India.” · “Laid the foundation for the SLS project as an Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) in its Centre for Educational Innovation.” · Co-founded PlanetRead.org (1999) and BookBox.com (a “for-profit social venture producing children's animated stories in more than 25 languages”) as a Reuters Digital Vision Fellow at Stanford University · Ashoka Fellow (2004) and the President of PlanetRead Questions to be Raised During Visit (3-4): · How can we best put ourselves in position to have an “Aha!”-moment similar to yours regarding SLS? In other words, is there any particular advice you have to aspiring social entrepreneurs about how to get that one key inspirational insight? · What sorts of unique challenges did you encounter while trying to integrate your concept with national infrastructural establishments (i.e. television networks)? What advice would you give for implementing a solution that vitally depends on an already existent structure or organization (as opposed to a solution that can be effectively implemented “independently”, given sufficient capital resources)? · What are the variable factors in the effectiveness of SLS education in different parts of the world? Are there forms of televised entertainment media in other places that are as equally ubiquitous as Bollywood films in India? How do you choose which types of programming to target? Further Resources (2-3): · Article in which Brij Kothari discusses his inspiration for SLS: http://span.state.gov/wwwhspseptoct054.html · Brij’s Ashoka profile: http://www.ashoka.org/node/3557