Could TV writers help curb the pandemic? This group thinks so Anousha Sakoui Neal Baer has experience changing audiences' opinions. The pediatrician turned TV writer wove public health storylines into shows like “ER” as part of a campaign to popularize the use of designated drivers to reduce drunk driving. Now, he and others in Hollywood have enlisted medical experts to help them convince viewers to mask up and get vaccinated against COVID-19. The aim is to encourage writers and showrunners to address the subject matter in their characters and storylines — without hitting viewers over the head with the message. "That's what we do as writers, we have our characters persuade each other all the time," Baer said during a workshop for members of the Writers Guild of America on Wednesday.