David Poindexter (January 30, 1929 – February 8, 2018) was the founder of Population Communications International, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister, and a TV producer. After receiving a master's degree in

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and serving as a pastor for 8 years in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1965 to take a post as director of utilization of the

NCC NCC may refer to: Biology *Neural correlates of consciousness, neuronal events and mechanisms relating to perception phenomena *Sodium-chloride symporter, abbreviated as NCC Companies *National Certification Corporation, a nursing specialty cer ...

's Broadcasting and Film Commission, and also became director of promotion services. It was in the late 1960s that Poindexter became interested in

population growth Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...

issues and

family planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marita ...

solutions after reading ''

The Population Bomb ''The Population Bomb'' is a 1968 book co-authored by Stanford University Professor emeritus Paul R. Ehrlich and Stanford senior researcher emeritus in conservation biology Anne Howland Ehrlich. It predicted worldwide famine due to overpopulatio ...

'' by

Paul Ehrlich Paul Ehrlich (; 14 March 1854 – 20 August 1915) was a Nobel Prize-winning German physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology, and antimicrobial chemotherapy. Among his foremost achievements were finding a cure ...

. After realizing that Mexico needed family planning efforts, he met with then-president of

Televisa Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...

Emilio Azcárraga Milmo Emilio Azcárraga Milmo or Emilio Azcárraga Jr. (September 6, 1930 in San Antonio, Texas - April 16, 1997 outside Miami, Florida) was a Mexican-American businessman and the son of Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta and Laura Milmo Hickman. He was educa ...

(also present at the meeting was future President of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

and

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

) and pleaded with him to include programming that would promote family planning. Azcarraga said they were already doing exactly that – and introduced Poindexter to

Miguel Sabido Miguel Sabido (born 1937) is a producer, writer, researcher, and theorist, known for pioneering Entertainment-Education, developing the " Theory of the Tone", and producing a number of commercially successful telenovelas for Televisa in the 1970s. ...

. Poindexter saw the value in this evidence-based media approach and took Sabido around the globe to spread his methodology and teach others the methods of

Entertainment-Education Entertainment-Education (EE) is a communication strategy that aims to alleviate a social issue or educate the public through a custom-tailored piece of entertainment. It is defined by a set of techniques and methodologies which all aim to use vario ...

. Having mastered this formal methodology, he founded the

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

Population Communications International in 1985, and grew it to significant influence, producing thousands of TV episodes over the years. Poindexter continuously worked the U.S. entertainment sector, formally teaming up with

Sonny Fox Irwin "Sonny" Fox (June 17, 1925 – January 24, 2021) was an American television host and broadcaster who was the host of the children's television program, ''Wonderama''. Through his career, he had hosted other children's educational and ent ...

. They jointly organized annual awards ceremonies to recognize the best entertainment shows addressing those issues. He formed a close relationship with

Norman Lear Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American producer and screenwriter, who has produced, written, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear is known for many popular 1970s sitcoms, including the multi-award winning ''All in the Famil ...

and is credited as having the character of " Maude" go through a mid-life

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

. Poindexter was a significant force in lobbying and advocacy for using Entertainment-Education to benefit populations around the world, both in front of private broadcasters and councils of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, chairing multiple U.N. NGO committees on population issues. David Poindexter retired in 1998 from his leadership positions and took an advisory position with

Population Media Center Population Media Center (PMC) is an entertainment organization dedicated to women's rights and empowerment, population stabilization, and the environment. PMC's TV and radio shows have promoted important social and cultural changes and have helped ...

, then newly founded by his longtime mentee

Bill Ryerson Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

. He died on February 8, 2018, in

after suffering a stroke. Coincidentally, on the same day and 900 miles south of his deathbed, the

Producers Guild of America The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing television producers, film producers and New media, New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 8,000 members of the producing esta ...

co-hosted its first

social impact entertainment Social Impact Entertainment (SIE) is "all storytelling that is self-aware of its potential impact on its audiences and incorporates that knowledge to effect positive change at the individual, local, or global scale on one or more social issues"'',' ...

event with Hollywood, Health and Society — an organization that Poindexter laid the groundwork for. This event marked the "birth date" of th
PGA Social Impact Entertainment Task Force

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poindexter, David 1929 births 2018 deaths People from Hood River, Oregon Religious leaders from Oregon

See also

References