I. Political Uses of Fear
A. Mask negative political
news and distract public from neglected issues
- Fallacy: Red Herring
B. Political control
- Fallacy: Appeal to Fear
A form of persuasion
Using fear, not evidence, in
one’s argument
Listed as one of the “top ten fallacies of all
time” in Moore and Parker’s Critical Thinking (8th ed.)
"[F]earful people are more dependent, more easily manipulated and controlled, more susceptible to deceptively simple, strong, tough measures and hard-line postures. . . .They may accept and even welcome repression if it promises to relieve their insecurities." George Gerbner
II. Media Use of Fear
A. Fear sells – it attracts audiences
Inherently exciting/stimulating
Underlying facts seemingly important
B. Low production costs
Official press conferences/releases
Limited research
III. Symbiosis
The political uses of fear are directly facilitated by compliant media serving as uncritical conduits of the official line
At the same time, purveying fear by being an uncritical conduit of the official line serves media’s own interests, viz., profitability
IV. Techniques
A. Scenarios Substitute for Fact
Stark imagery is used and this is attributed to (more or less directly) a supposed underlying danger
Atypical anecdotes are used – the fallacy of the Hasty Generalization
Distorting with numbers
Distorting the significance of the numbers
Pygmalion effect
B. Presentation
Credibility of presentation makes them seem not improbable
People with fancy titles
Backed up with select testimonies from people the audience will find sympathetic
Often presented by professional narrators
Amount of coverage