Michael Tesler tries to measure how “TV helped change attitudes about marijuana”:
The large increase in support for legalization over the past decade was concentrated among Americans who watch a lot of TV. After accounting for other variables, support for marijuana legalization has increased by almost 20 percentage points among individuals who watch at least four hours of TV a day (nearly one-third of the population). Meanwhile, opinions remained relatively static among Americans who do not watch much television.
One his commenters contends that the Internet played a bigger role:
On any 30 minute discussion show, there are at least five minutes of commercials, five minutes of introduction, and five minutes of the host asking questions. That leaves 15 minutes divided by 2. If you speak at 100 WPM, that gives you 750 words to tell all there is to know about the subject. Don’t refer to any books because saying the titles will only waste precious air time, and no one will remember them, anyway. If you don’t win by knockout, you lose.
On the other hand, on the internet, each point can be explained in detail, authoritative references are a click away, and anyone from anywhere can participate for free. Idiots can run their mouths with stupid prohibitionist stuff on TV and get away with it simply because there isn’t time to go through all the stupidity. On the internet, they get handed their heads.
The Dish 