media lecture 7

8/18/2019 Media Lecture 7

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The Social Construction of “Panics”in the Media

American Studies, MA I


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Course Outline

The construction of panics in the media –scares, panics, moral panics

Models for the analysis of moral panics

(Stanley Cohen !iscourse analysis tools for the in"esti#ation

of “ris$%panic” discourses – &o#er 'oler)sanalysis of the salmonella*in*e##s affair

(1+*1++ The “mad co disease” – ho did the

-merican press construct it as a pu.lic issue/


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scare, panic, hysteria – disproportionatereaction to an issue of (some pu.lic concernemotional, intense co"era#e crisis –communal%societal le"el measures reuired to

sol"e crisis%restore social order3

moral panic – a pronounced moral dimension afocus on a certain phenomenon and especiallysocial cate#ory constructed as an element of “e"il” Otherness hi#h de#ree of consensusamon# participants (a#ainst the so*defined “fol$de"il” community crisis (moral "aluesthreatened measures reuired to restore moraland social order (#enerally puniti"e, e4clusionary

measures a#ainst the morally de"iant Other3


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not all scares%panics are also moral panics, .utthey may include elements thereof

topics that ualify for a moral panic type ofco"era#e6 riots (social cate#ory "ilified6 youth –su.cultures, lo social ori#in child abuse(social cate#ory "ilified6 potential child a.usersAIDS (social cate#ory "ilified6 homose4uals –generally law and order and public health

issues3 78T, in the opinion of certain scholars,

“Scares o"er health epidemics or foodcontamination are not moral panics .ecausethey lac$ fol$ de"ils as o.9ects of hostility3”(Critcher 2::0625


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Moral panics – definition and models ofanalysis

Stanley Cohen (197!" Folk devils and moral panics: The creation of the Mods andRockers

- num.er of incidents at 7ritish seaside resorts in1+


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Moral panics – definition and models ofanalysis

Cohen)s model for the analysis of moral panics6 “the processual model” (Chas Critcher)s la.el3

=rich >oode and ?achman 7en*@ehuda (1++56 “the attri.utional model”3


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Mods and &oc$ers

https6%%3youtu.e3com%atch/"Br


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Moral panic – Cohen)s definition

“Societies appear to .e su.9ect, e"ery no andthen, to periods of moral panic3

(1 A condition, episode, person or groupo# persons emer#es to .ecome defined as athreat to societal $alues and interests

(2 its nature is presented in a styli%ed andstereotypical #ashion .y the mass media

(0 the moral barricades are manned .yeditors, .ishops, politicians and other ri#ht*thin$in# people


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Moral panic – Cohen)s definition

(5 socially accredited e&perts pronounce theirdiagnoses and solutions

(; ways o# coping are e"ol"ed or (more oftenresorted to

(


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Cohen)s model of moral panic analysis

n Critcher 2::06 1A*1+6

“One: emergence' -t this point a form of

.eha"iour comes to .e percei"ed as athreat3 There is a #eneral apprehension thatsomethin# is ron# and a narroer focus oniminent dan#er3 n hat forms does the Hpro.lem)

emer#e/ Ihat is percei"ed as no"el a.out it/ Ihy and in hat ays is it percei"ed as a

threat to the moral or social order/”


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n Critcher 2::06 1A*1+6

“Two: media inventory. This is a

preliminary e4planation of the nature of thethreat and those ho pose it, articulatedprimarily throu#h the mass media3 Threestrate#ies are in"ol"ed6

e&aggerationdistortion, prediction and symboli%ation3 The media .ecome

sensitiJed to apparently similar e"ents3


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Cohen)s model of moral panic analysis Iho or hat is stereotyped/ Ihat $ind of stereotype is in"ol"ed/ s there an identifia.le fol$ de"il/

Ihat e"idence is there of e4a##eration,distortion, prediction and sym.oliJation/ !o the media .ecome sensitiJed to the

issue/”


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Cohen (2:116 25

=4a##eration6 “the num.er ta$in# part, thenum.er in"ol"ed in "iolence and the amountand effects of any dama#e or "iolence”

“the mode and style of presentation” – “crime reportin#”6 “sensational headlines”, “melodramatic "oca.ulary”, “deli.eratehei#htenin# of those elements in the story

considered as nes” Goca.ulary6 Hriot), Hor#y of destruction), H.attle),

Hattac$), Hsie#e), H.eat up the ton), Hscreamin#mod)3


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Cohen (2:116 2A

“misleadin# headlines”, discrepancies

“Then there ere more su.tle and oftenunconscious 9ournalistic practices6 the use ofthe #eneric plural (if a .oat as o"erturned,reports read H.oats ere o"erturned) and the

techniue, ell*$non to ar correspondents,of reportin# the same incident tice to loo$ li$eto different incidents3”


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Cohen)s model of moral panic analysis “Three: moral entrepreneurs. >roups or

or#aniJations ta$e it upon themsel"es topronounce upon the nature of the pro.lem andits .est remedies3 K333L They offer orientations

(emotional and intellectual responses, ima#esof the de"iants and e4planations of their causale4planations3

Iho are the si#nificant moral

entrepreneurs, hether #roups orindi"iduals/

!o they lead, follo or operate alon#sidemedia/

Ihat orientations, ima#es and causal

e4planations are e"ident/”


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“Four: experts. K333L on some issuese4pertise may carry particular ei#ht,affectin# the ay the media, especially

upmar$et papers and .roadcastin#, come todefine the issue3 So the distincti"econtri.ution of e4perts remains identifia.le3

Iho claims e4pertise a.out this pro.lem/ On hat #rounds do they claim e4pertise/

s such e4pertise accredited .y the media/”


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“Five coping and resolution.

Ihat solutions are ad"ocated and .y hom/ Ihich measures are insti#ated and .y

hom/

-re these inno"ations procedural and%or

le#al/ n hat ays are they effecti"e and%or

sym.olic/”


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!iscourse analysis – &o#er 'oler)s casestudy3 'ood scares

&o#er 'oler3 1++13 Language in the News:discourse and ideology in the press.

&o#er 'oler has analyJed the media co"era#e ofthe Hsalmonella*in*e##s affair) and listeriosis inthe 7ritish press from late ?o"em.er 1+ to

early March 1++3 is conclusion6 the co"era#eas e4a##erated, "er#in# on Hhysterical)3

)ow does *owler de#ine hysteria+


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Hn usin# the ord “hysterical”, I do not wish tosuggest that salmonella and listeriapoisoning are insigni#icant or illusory3 ?or

am in a position to claim that the le"el ofpu.lic alarm as out of proportion to the le"elof medical ris$ and actual illness (“the ris$s aree4a##erated”, as some contri.utors to thede.ate, nota.ly #o"ernment spo$esmen,alle#ed6 the facts a.out “infection” arethemsel"es contro"ersial or inaccessi.le, so Icannot easily say that the public responsewas e&cessi$e'


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Certainly, people ha"e died from these causes3Iithout meanin# to contrast the facts and thenespapers) response to them, one can assertthat this response as hysterical in terms of itshi#h emotive content , the massive scale ofPress reporting and its extraordinary

generaliation to !the poisoning of ourworld" 3)

Hysteria is not simply .eha"iour hich is in e4cessof the e"ents hich pro"o$ed it it is also.eha"iour hich attains autonomy, whichsustains itsel# as an e&pressi$e

per#ormance, independent o# its causes3)


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KNL ysteria reuires an e4pressi"e system, a modeo# discourse independent of empirical reality3Since e4pressi"e systems are shared amon#mem.ers of a community, hysteria can .e

intersu.9ecti"e6 mass hysteria3 Such as thestatus of listeria hysteria%the #reat e## scare6once esta#lished in the discourse of themedia$ it persisted autonomously withinthat discourse$ going on and on at anincreasing pitch independent of the factualunfolding of the matter 3 The #reat e## scareas not a medical phenomenon, not an epidemicit was a construct of discourse$ a formationand transformation of ideas in the pu#liclanguage of the newspapers and television3)

('oler, 1++16 15A*15, my emphases


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'oler)s analysis of the co"era#e6

articipantsSocial actors"

the food industry6 farmers, food producers,distri.utors, retailers and restaurants

the >o"ernment6 the Ministry of -#riculture,'isheries and 'ood (M-'', the !epartment of

ealth Minister etc3 the political opposition

the e4perts

the press

the people%ordinary citiJens3


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Aspects o# the -hysterical style."

hi#hli#htin# a "oca.ulary of dan#er and ris$,confusion and crisis a hi#h le"el of intensity, an e4cess of

ne#ati"e feelin# .lamin# politicians

.lamin# indi"iduals (Hthe housei"es) #i"in# ad"ice (the rhetoric of Hcommand) emphasiJin# the ecolo#ical pro.lem e face


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Aspects o# the -hysterical style."

multiplicity of technical and medical terms

the .acteria * treated to a Hrhetoric ofanimation) (H$iller .u#s) – metaphors ofar and .attle

the rhetoric of uantification (#i"in#indications of Hlar#e*scale #roths)6

numerical e4pressions, e4pressions ofuantitati"e increase

formulaic patterns (Hsalmonella crisis), Hsalmonella affair), Hsalmonella scandal)etc3


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/&amples o# headlines or headings"

-Deadly #ood poison that stal0s our

supermar0ets.-isteria" An elusi$e 0iller.

-Ice cream peril at the beach.

-Airline #ood menace.

-2he 0iller bug listeria.

('oler 1++16 2:0


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The mad co disease * Ta.loidiJation

The crisis arose in 7ritain in March 1++< and resultedin e4tensi"e co"era#e in the 7ritish and then=uropean press3 The ma9or issue in the Statesas fear that the disease mi#ht stri$e there, asell3

7roo$es 2:::61+


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The mad co disease * Ta.loidiJation

The 7ritish press co"era#e of food*related healthcrises in #eneral, and the 7S=%C! issue inparticular, pro"ides an e4cellent e4ample of the

supposed dan#ers of ta.loidiJation aspercei"ed from this perspecti"e3 The ideal roleo# the press ould .e seen as supplying anarena #or debates among scientists,medical e&perts, politicians, and

policyma0ers o"er the e4tent of ris$ of 7S=and communicatin# these de.ates to the pu.licso that they can ta$e appropriate action ascitiJens3”


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The mad co disease

oe"er, ta.loidiJation is seen as threatenin# thisrole .y su.mer#in# hard information ith amorass of human interest -$ictim. stories,apocalyptic headlines, dramatic

typography and photography, e&cessi$eeditoriali%ing, and constant 9u4taposition ith “tri"ial” stories such as se4 scandals a.outroyalty and tele"ision personalities3 The tone ofthis co"era#e could .e represented assensational and emotional, particularly in itsfocus on "ictims, .oth actual and potential (inthis case, the entire nation3”


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Oprah and mad co disease

Oprah)s sho – -pril 1;, 1++< – Could madco disease happen in the 8S/

=4perts6 oard yman (a director of a"e#etarian pressure #roup, >ary Ie.er (the?ational Cattlemen)s 7eef -ssociation, !r3 Iilluesten (#o"ernment scientist – the 8S!epartment of -#riculture3


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Oprah and mad co disease

Oprah framed positi"ely, “in a sympathetic "ein”oard yman)s contri.ution – cele.ration of “personal e4perience” o"er “official e4pertise”3

Trial – Oprah sued .y a #roup of Te4as cattle

farmers (trial .e#an in 1++3 Policy chan#e6 .ar on feedin# dead cos to

other cos

https6%%3youtu.e3com%atch/"BS.FadGa?!$ http6%%3mad*co3or#%

http://www.mad-cow.org/http://www.mad-cow.org/


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&eferences

7roo$es, &3 2:::3 HTa.loidiJation, Media Panicsand Mad Co !isease)3 n Tabloid Tales: globaldebates over media standards3 =d3 7y C3

Spar$s and 3 Tulloch3 anham, 7oulder, ?e@or$, O4ford6 &oman and ittlefieldPu.lishers3

Critcher, C3 2::03 Moral Panics and the Media37er$shire6 Open 8ni"ersity Press3

'oler, &3 1++13 Language in the News:discourse and ideology in the press. ondonand ?e @or$6 &outled#e3

media lecture 7

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