The Culture of Fear Fears based on Fallacies
Anonymous Student
The Culture of Fear Fears based on Fallacies
Americans have a tendency to underestimate the power of the media
and its influence over our beliefs and expectations in society.
News is delivered to our homes in many different ways including
the television, newspaper and word of mouth. It is our first
instinct to take what we see and hear from authority figures or
news stations to be true. Therefore, we do not realize that the
"media," in any form, often delivers more or less than solid
facts. The media has the ability to report what it wants you to
hear. The messages it communicates may exaggerate unimportant
details but leave out or belittle major events it is uninterested
in. The promoting of false beliefs is not limited to the media;
influential organizations and people (such as politicians) can be
just as effective in spreading such beliefs. The Culture of Fear,
written by Barry Glassner, introduces readers to an inside look
at this concept.
In his book, Glassner uncovers false beliefs held by a vast
majority of people. These beliefs constitute myths and urban
legends that make up an ever-growing "Culture of Fear" in
America. The "Fear mongers," as Glassner classifies them, promote
unwarranted fears among the general public. Americans therefore
focus their attention on "being afraid of the wrong things." The
"wrong things" include unwarranted fears the media expresses as
truths. Often more important serious events become neglected when
so much attention is put on propaganda in the news. Using a
plethora of facts and statistics, Glassner supports his argument
using specific examples of how "fear mongers" have succeeded in
stirring up fear in the public. "How fears are sold," "Tall Tales
and Overstated Statistics," and "Faulty diagnoses and Callous
Cures" are a few themes Glassner uses to prove his point.
The theme, How Fears are Sold, is initially introduced in the
first chapter, "Dubious Dangers on Roadways and Campuses." This
section describes the ease in which people are sucked into
"scares" or "hype" regarding a nonexistent problem. Glassner
describes road rage as a small risk the media successfully turned
into a wide scale fear among Americans. Organizations responsible
for Introducing fear of road rage to Americans include talk show
hosts, news reporters, and printed news sources. In one example,
Glassner identifies Oprah Winfrey as one guilty "fear monger." In
a 1997 program on road rage, Oprah described several incidents
where road rage grew into shootings and fistfights (Glassner 4).
Despite the fact that road rage rarely transforms into anything
more serious, Oprah's "influential power" inspired fear into many
of her viewers. Road rage is most definitely not a significant
risk to drivers. According to U.S. News and World Report, the AAA
attributed only 218 out of 250,000 deaths on the road due to
angry drivers between 1990 and 1997 (Glassner 5).
Another example of this phenomenon of "selling fears" to
television viewers can be seen in talk shows that repetitively
seek out troubled teenagers. These teenagers or pre-teens in some
cases are often rebellious delinquents, drug-attics, or posses
some other combination of immoral qualities. People exposed to
these forms of media, which present teenagers this way, are
taught to view all teenagers as potential criminals.
Tall Tales and Overstated Statistics reflects the theme of the
second chapter, "Crime in the News." Crime in the news occurs
each time we turn on the television and are exposed to
exaggerated and right or left wing information. News channels
claim to report reliable facts, but the way in which news stories
are reported often reflect these types of biases. Fox news, whose
former maxim was "we report, you decide," is probably the most
notorious channel for advocating conservative or right wing
views. The film, "outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism,"
presents a compilation of Fox news' most embarrassing moments
throughout the years.
The Outfoxed film also includes a series of ex-Fox news employees
whom retell their experience working for the company. The past
employees confess Fox was responsible for the unfair manipulation
of News broadcasted to the public. Jon Du Pre, former Fox News
Anchor, confesses in an interview in the Outfoxed film, that as
an employee, he was taught that "we were not necessarily there as
journalists or broadcasters to serve the viewers; we were there
to serve headquarters. What headquarters wanted, that's what we
would give them" (Outfoxed). Fox news utilized methods of
propaganda to promote what "headquarters wanted," which was often
to support conservative politicians or beliefs. Du Pre reports
that, "we were not necessarily broadcasting, we were
'narrowcasting' ... we were there to appease a constituency:
That constituency was conservative, perhaps republic, males"
(outfoxed). Outfoxed is a good example of the media's impact on
people and its power to broadcast what is important to the news
station and not necessarily what is important for viewers to see.
The "Razorblade in the Apple" is a classic example of the media's
ability to stir-up fear over an invalid conspiracy. Each
Halloween, the media reminds parents to thoroughly check their
children's Halloween candy for dangerous substances such as
poison or needles. The legend of "the razorblade in the apple"
has in fact become so serious that police and medical centers all
over the country have gone so far as to x-ray bags of candy to
make sure it is safe for children to eat. The truth is that few
cases of Halloween poisoning have ever been reported. The two
real cases of Halloween poisoning that have been reported do not
involve a deranged stranger giving children poisoned candy. The
two cases both involved a parent intentionally murdering their
child by giving them poisoned candy. For example, in 1974, Ronald
Clark O'Bryan killed his son by lacing his son's pixie stick with
cyanide (Radford). Unnecessarily taking such precautions as
x-raying Halloween candy furthers the unwarranted fear of the
"Razorblade in the Apple."
Like the "Razorblade in the Apple," the issues of internet danger
and the booming child pornography business are largely
unwarranted fears shaped by the media. According to Glassner, "A
report on NBC news in 1977 let it be known that 'as many as two
million American youngsters are involved in the fast-growing,
multi-million dollar child-pornography business'"(Glassner 32).
This statement was proved to be wrong: child pornography, in
fact, probably accumulated less that $1 million a year with
hundreds, not millions, of American children involved (Glassner
32).
In addition to the evils of child pornography, the internet is
thought to be a very dangerous place for vulnerable children that
spend hours in front of their computers. According to an article
in the Journal of School Violence, "the internet has provided a
new medium for the victimization of children, and sexual
exploitation in cyberspace is among the most dangerous threats to
youth online" (Journal). Although, the internet exposes children
to potential communication with strangers through emails and
chat-rooms, Glassner points out that "government officials do a
great deal of lurking and entrapping" to catch "cyberspace
creeps" (Glassner 33). Most internet providers also offer
parental controls that limit a child's online activities.
Despite the fear of online pedophiles, few criminal incidents
have occurred involving children and strangers online. According
to a Los Angeles Times reporter, "Such are the frightening new
frontiers of cyberspace, a place where the child thought safely
tucked away in his or her room may be in greater danger than
anyone could imagine" (Glassner 35). Glassner makes an
interesting point referring to this comment: "For those most at
risk for sexual abuse, to be left in their rooms with a computer
would be a godsend" (Glassner 35). The media should focus its
attention on these children that are likely to be at a higher
risk for abuse than well-off children that have their own
computers with online access in their rooms.
Faulty Diagnosis and Callous Cures is the major theme found in
chapter three of The Culture of Fear, "Youth at Risk." The media
has a way of pinpointing minors as highly vulnerable to both
committing crimes and becoming the victims of crime. Many
accusations, however, hold little truth. Glassner supports this
point by explaining the reality behind the problem of "missing
children" (Glassner 60). Americans are consistently being
introduced to stories of missing children in the mail and on
television.
The amount of attention missing children receive is enough to
make parents nervous about their own children being at risk for
getting kidnapped by a stranger. Most children that are reported
missing, however, are runaways, fleeing from emotional or
physical abuse at home (Glassner 61). Also, the children that are
reported missing have often been "abducted" by another family
member, and not by a strange kidnapper. Children, themselves, are
likely to be frightened when exposed to the idea of kidnapping.
Pediatrician, Dr. Brazelton, claims "I don't think it's really
appropriate to make them afraid of everybody" (Glassner 62).
Fear mongering in children and teenagers in not limited to
kidnapping. School security measures are becoming more extreme
than ever before. More high schools are investing in surveillance
cameras and crime prevention programs. Schools in Baltimore are
purchasing specialized digital surveillance cameras which can
both detect motion and see in the dark (smile). Although the
addition of surveillance cameras is meant to ensure student
safety at school, one may wonder if doing so is really a
warranted act. It is unfair that video cameras consistently watch
students when at school. The extra precaution makes schools seem
more like probation centers than places of learning.
Some people are concerned about the lack of privacy and trust
students may experience when being video taped at school. "I
think we're rearing a generation of schoolchildren who will
always be looking over their shoulders" is Beth Givens opinion,
Director of the Privacy Rights Clearing House (smile). The
cameras, though meant to ensure safety, most definitely produce
an insecure feeling in public schools. At Santiago High School in
Corona, signs above each vending machine read, "smile, you are
being videotaped." The signs are meant to prevent potential
vending machine bashers from destructing school property by
warning them that they could face serious charges. In reality,
however, these types of warnings produce feelings of unease in
public schools.
Programs involving drug abstinence are becoming even more
invasive in public junior high and high schools as they involve
random searching of student property and in some cases, the use
of drug-dogs to search the school for illegal substances.
Increasingly, drug dogs are being used in school districts to
perform routine drug searches. The Administrators of schools that
use the dogs say that "the program isn't a reaction to a rise in
drug incidents: It's about deference" (Perez). In an article in
the Orange County Register, Magnolia High School Principal, Ken
Fox, reports that drug use has decreased since he started in the
district more than 20 years ago (Perez). For Principal Ken Fox,
the drug dog is just an "extra layer of prevention."
These drastic measures may conjure more of a "faulty diagnosis
and callous cure" than anything else. One incidence at Magnolia
High School (Anaheim Union High School district) left a girl in
tears after a drug dog had found interest in her school supplies.
The student's mom was called shortly after and the student's car
checked, only to find that she was indeed not in possession of
any illegal substances (Perez). Not only does the program seem
invasive and unnecessary to students, it is costing the school
districts an average of $50,000 a year in federal grant money to
fund the drug dog program (Perez).
How Fears are Sold, Tall Tales and Overstated Statistics, and
Faulty Diagnosis and Callous Cures all effectively counter
traditional fears Americans have bought into over the years.
Glassner destructs the common fear of road rage in the first
section of The Culture of Fear, How Fears are sold. In this
section, it is brought to the reader's attention how easily
statistics and other data can be manipulated to make people
believe that there truly is a serious epidemic where there is not
one. Oprah's program on road rage in 1997 was an effective
example of a respected person's ability to inspire fear. Her
prestige as a remarkable talk show host gave her the power to
influence her audience.
In the second section, Tall Tales and Overstated Statistics, the
long held urban legend "The Razorblade in the Apple," is
destructed with evidence of the only real incidents of Halloween
sadism; both of which did not involve strangers giving away
tainted Halloween candy to trick-or-treaters. The Outfoxed film
also fell into this category of Tall Tales and Overstated
Statistics, as it revealed all of Fox news' flaws in reporting
reliable news. The right wing, conservative, nature of Fox news
is supported by several interviews by ex-Fox Journalists,
Producers, and News Anchors in the Outfoxed film as evidence. The
ex-employees all reported various accounts of unfair news
broadcasting.
Faulty Diagnosis and Callous Cures, the theme of the third
chapter, reveals the media's ability to create a problem where it
doesn't exist and then attempt to cure it unnecessarily. Glassner
explains the reason behind the hype over "kidnapping": an
occurrence that is feared more than it should be. The recent
addition of drug dogs to school security systems also seems like
a "callous cure" to a "faulty diagnosis" of drug problems in
public schools.
The American "Culture of Fear" is a long held tradition that is
continuously being reinforced by the media. Reporters, writers,
and other sources of mass media are constantly selling fears
through exaggerated facts, unclear statistics, and other
techniques of persuasion. Fear is the most important emotion the
media can invoke in people because it controls our behavior.
Actions such as the addition of surveillance cameras in American
school districts make it clear that our fears are derived from
lack of trust. According to Dr. John Eyles, "we need to develop
and maintain trust, and cultivate respect in institutions"
(Eyles). Without trust Americans can not trust the government or
their fellow citizens in society.
There are many ways Americans can avoid falling victim to false
or stretched information. One example is reading Reason magazine,
which has been around since 1968. Reason magazine offers an
alternative to reading or viewing marginal sources of information
that use the news as propaganda. Reason attempts to promote a
free society by "developing, applying, and promoting libertarian
principles, including individual liberty, free markets, and the
rule of law" (Reason). Other ways Americans can protect
themselves from falling victim to propaganda is to do their own
research on political organizations and avoid biased news
channels. Simply being aware that much of the news we are
presented with consists of propaganda, can make Americans more
conscientious about the unwarranted fears they are buying into.
Glassner's, The Culture of Fear, provides information every
American should be knowledgeable about regarding the power of the
media to distort facts. Despite the power of the media, every
American has the ability to fight back against propaganda and to
think rationally.
Works Cited:
Glassner, Barry. The Culture of Fear. New York: Basic, 1999.
"OutFoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism." Interview by Jon Du Pre.
Radford, Benjamin. "Candy Fears are Mere Halloween Phantoms."
Skeptical Inquirer 25 Nov. 2005
http://www.livescience.com/othernews/051025_halloween_candy.html
"Emerging Risks of Violence in the Digital Age." Journal of
School Violence. 25 Nov. 2005.
"Smile kids." WTOP radio network 31 Mar. 2005 25 Nov. 2005
Perez, Erika "Drug Dogs Sniff out Trouble at OC Schools"
The Orange County Register 4 Nov. 2005. 25 Nov 2005.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/atoz/article_750940.php
Eyles, John. "The Culture of Fear and Environmental Health:
Making Policy in Uncertain Times" 21 Mar. 2003. 25 Nov. 2005.
http://www.ec.gc.ca/seminar/Eyles_e.html
"Reason" Reason Foundation 25 Nov. 2005
by Anonymous Student
http://www.allfreeessays.net/student/The_Culture_of_Fear_Fears_based_on_Fallac
ies.html
spindle
wrote:
> "Emerging Risks of Violence in the Digital Age." Journal of
> School Violence. 25 Nov. 2005.
> "Smile kids." WTOP radio network 31 Mar. 2005 25 Nov. 2005
> Perez, Erika "Drug Dogs Sniff out Trouble at OC Schools"
> Eyles, John. "The Culture of Fear and Environmental Health:
> "Reason" Reason Foundation 25 Nov. 2005
>
> ies.html
Why not form a set of rules to be annexed that may encourage instant
rational appraisal.
A an instnt warning and debunk
m...@privacy.net
spindle wrote: [snip]
You just quoted 308 lines just to add one line at the bottom.
Please read these:
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http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote2.html
Quoting Style in Newsgroup Postings
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How do I quote correctly in Usenet? - Quoting and Answering
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/usenet/brox.html
Common Mistakes in Usenet Postings and How to Avoid Them
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/anton/mail-news-errors.html
Quoting and Answering
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/posting-rules/part1/
I hope this helps...