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Publication Date: Summer=20 2002
Media Fear Mongers Among Us Always Cry Wolf
The clock finally reads 5 p.m. Time to head for home. What a day! The = office=20 was buzzing with rumors about layoffs after news reports about the = pounding your=20 company took on Wall Street.
While driving home you tune into the local news radio station to get = the=20 traffic report. The reporter=92s voice is droning on about the latest = attack by a=20 group of criminals staging =93home invasion=94 robberies in your city. = Earlier today=20 they killed a woman. A companion story covers a list of preventative = actions=20 suggested by local police to help protect yourself and your family.
Home at last. You hug your wife and kids and turn on the television. = The=20 local news is just beginning. Up first is a 1-minute story on how local = schools=20 are falling behind the national average, how local kids aren=92t = learning, and a=20 list of what you need to do about the problem.
National news is next. The war against terrorism grinds on. New = security=20 procedures are going into effect at the airport. Fighting continues in = many=20 countries. National leaders disagree about how much progress has been = made and=20 what should be done next.
You feel overwhelmed. Information flows at you from every direction; = at work,=20 in the car, at home. It never stops. You=92re continuously bombarded by = the=20 problem of the week, the day, even the moment. In a way, you=92ve been = framed.=20
=93The Problem=94 is more than just the topics or issues covered by = the news=20 media, says David Altheide, Regents Professor of criminal justice at = Arizona=20 State University. Altheide says that =93The Problem=94 is also the way = in which the=20 information is presented. He calls the presentation technique a =93news = frame=94 or=20 =93problem frame.=94
The results from lots of opinion polls indicate that many Americans = remain=20 fearful despite clear evidence that most citizens are healthier, safer, = and=20 happier than ever before.
Why the fear?
Altheide=92s interpretive studies of the mass media are well known = among=20 scholars. His answer is based on a variant of a technique called frame = analysis.=20 Researchers use the method to study the content of news reports and = popular=20 culture. Altheide argues that the media have become both an information = source=20 as well as a source of entertainment.
=93The blending of news/information values and entertainment values = has gotten=20 us to where we are today,=94 he explains. =93New programs and news = papers are big=20 business. They make a lot of money for corporations. At their core, = these groups=20 are profit driven. To make a larger profit, you have to attract a larger = audience. To attract larger audiences to news programs, media outlets = are=20 adopting an entertainment format as part of news programming.=94
Altheide says that comic book villain Lex Luthor, Superman=92s arch = enemy, says=20 it all in a single phrase. Luthor=92s pithy comment in the movie = Superman IV is=20 simple: =93The more fear you make,=94 he says, =93the more loot you = take.=94
The difference is easy to see. Altheide suggests looking at the = contrast=20 between past and current television newscasts. Baby boomers grew up = watching=20 relatively simple newscasts dominated by anchormen such as Walter = Cronkite or=20 David Brinkley. Today=92s newscasts place a much larger emphasis on = entertainment.=20 Perfectly coiffed news readers laugh and giggle as they provide the = latest=20 gossip about celebrities. They also devote lots of time to stories about = food=20 preparation, hot new restaurants, or updates on the latest fashions and = fads.=20
=93The entertainment elements are now dominant,=94 Altheide says. = =93The effect=20 overwhelms even what can be considered the =91serious news=92 segments = on radio and=20 television. It also is eroding the hard news sections of many = newspapers.=94
News stories are often presented in what Altheide describes as a = =93problem=20 format.=94 The format allows reporters a platform on which to present = news stories=20 and attract and entertain an audience at the same time.
=93In an effort to attract larger and larger audiences, media people = have gone=20 back into our cultural history and adopted a format that is time = proven=97the=20 morality play. Many religions used the morality play format to teach = concepts of=20 right and wrong.=94 Altheide explains.
The current =93War on Terrorism=94 is a good example of how leaders = use the=20 morality play to generate fear-inspired news reports. President Bush = speaks=20 about =93evil ones=94 and =93evil doers.=94 The nation remains on = =93alert.=94 The next=20 attack could come at any time.
=93The morality play is simple. It is based on the idea that a = problem exists,=94=20 Altheide adds. =93The problem can be solved through the use of a moral = principle.=94=20
The =93problem frame=94 does not suffer a political bias to either =
the left or=20
right. The process is used to identify a problem, and then suggests one =
or more=20
solutions. (See
=93The problem frame gets incorporated into news because of the way = news is=20 covered in our fast-moving information society,=94 Altheide continues. = =93It is now=20 built into the very structure of how news is reported and presented in = America.=94=20
=93The news business has an accepted way of doing things,=94 he says. = =93The most=20 successful and profitable news programs tend to be those that use the = news frame=20 as a way to attract an audience. News is a business. Businesses tend to = copy=20 what works. As a result, the news or problem frame has become the = standard way=20 of reporting. The new generation of reporters has been raised on the = problem=20 frame. It seems natural to them.=94
Fear sells. Media outlets appear to thrive on finding new ways to = scare their=20 viewers or readers. However, Altheide thinks that the problem extends = well=20 beyond the news room. We experience more of our lives through a lens of = fear.The=20 sense and use of the word =93fear=94 is greater in American life today = than it was=20 even a decade ago, according to the ASU scholar.
=93Much of the promotional material for the news product uses an = element of=20 fear to generate readers or viewers,=94 he explains. =93That=92s why you = see promos=20 such as =91Tonight at 10 p.m., find out the secret ingredient in = women=92s perfume=20 that=92s destroying their sex lives.=92 Or, =91Learn three things you = can do to=20 protect your family from skin cancer.=92
=93The teaser format is also popular: =91Organization X has made a = major=20 announcement. We=92ll have all the details at 5 p.m.=92 These = promotional=20 advertisements attempt to get you to watch or read by creating fear that = you=20 might miss an important piece of information for yourself or your = family.=94
The problem frame often acts much like a magnifying glass.
=93Over time, the constant use of the problem frame results in an = accumulation=20 of fear among members of the general public,=94 Altheide says. =93Crime = news is an=20 easy example. The media pay a great deal of attention to violent crime = and=20 murder. People have become fearful about the prospects of becoming a = victim of=20 crime, despite the fact that if you are not involved in drugs or gangs, = your=20 chances of becoming a victim of violent crime are some of the lowest in = American=20 history. The actual number of violent crimes in the United States has = been=20 dropping, but the amount of fear has increased.=94
Altheide says the same model can be seen in the mass media=92s = coverage of=20 schools and education in America.
=93The stories usually focus on the problems in the schools, and what = we need=20 to do to fix those problems,=94 he continues. =93People are concerned = that the=20 quality of schools has dramatically declined over time. Yet, at the very = same=20 time, we have record numbers of students entering colleges and = universities=20 across the nation. The problem frame tends to shift the focus and alter = the=20 perception of what is really going on. Over time, the problem frame = creates its=20 own reality.=94
David Altheide=92s newest book about the news media is called = Creating Fear:=20 News and the Construction of Crises (Social Problems and Social = Issues)=20 published by Aldine De Gruyter.
During research for the book, the ASU scholar used electronic = information=20 data bases and a method he calls =93tracking discourse=94 to map how use = of the word=20 =93fear=94 has changed since the 1980s. He examined how topics = associated with fear,=20 the favorite topics of media discourse, also changed over the same = period. In=20 addition, he examined how certain news sources tend to prevail over = others.
The creative use of fear by the news media has produced what Altheide = terms a=20 =93discourse of fear=94=97the awareness and expectation that danger and = risk are=20 lurking everywhere. Case studies in his book illustrate how certain=20 organizations and social institutions benefit from the exploitation of = such fear=20 mongering.
He says that one social impact is a manipulated public empathy: We = now have=20 more =93victims=94 than at any time in our prior history.
=93When certain problems can be cast with TV formats as arenas for = disputes,=20 disagreements, conflicts and struggle, and when these can be visually=20 illustrated, one has the formula for good entertainment, good audience = ratings,=20 constant awareness of problems, and a sense of a very trouble world. =
=93Another, more troubling result is the role we have ceded to law = enforcement=20 and punishment,=94 Altheide adds. =93We turn ever more readily to the = state and=20 formal control to protect us from what we fear.=94=97Keith = Jennings