Entertainment: Friend or Foe of Reality?

Mass Media has agenda-setting power. For example, if a television series dramatizes the lives of compulsive gamblers, public awareness of compulsive gambling as a social and psychological problem will increase. That doesn't mean that people will agree on what, if anything, to do about compulsive gamblers, but they will be more likely to take the problem seriously than if the TV show had never existed.

Today's Medianote looks at the agenda-setting power of the film The King's Speech in regard to raising awareness about stuttering and the hardships faced by stutterers. According to this Los Angeles Times story, an increased number of real-life stutterers have sought help from speech therapists as a result of the movie.

Just for fun, we finished this Medianote by comparing television's fictional Greendale Community College with real-life Glendale Community College.