Media and 'The Culture of Fear'

Paper Summary:

This paper provides an analysis of Barry Glassner's arguments in his book, 'The Culture of Fear'. According to the paper the book's rationale is to create public awareness about the circumstances surrounding the issue of fear. The paper concludes with a summary of the research and salient findings.

Overview:
Review and Discussion
What are Americans Afraid of Anyway?
Current and Future Trends
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Certainly, the Internet offers Americans with an alternative source of information from the mainstream media and many are taking advantage of this option; however, the fact remains the most Americans can reasonably be expected to garner the majority of their opinions from the shared experience of national and local media coverage of events that might not be viewed in the same context by the international press or a more subjective analysis. According to Doremus and his colleagues, "The networks are not the only source of news available to the public, so perhaps there is little harm in a shift toward the sensational in network news provided that other, more useful, information sources are available. However, other advertiser-supported news media are no doubt affected by the same market forces as network news" (p. 290). Consequently, it would seem that the media has the American public in its corporate pocket and they are not going to let them out anytime soon."

Sample of Sources Used:

• References
• Anastasio, P. A., & Costa, D. M. (2004). Twice hurt: How newspaper coverage may reduce empathy and engender blame for female victims of crime. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 51, 535.
• Beilharz, P. (2004). Rewriting Australia: The way we talk about fears and hopes. Journal of Sociology, 40(4), 432.
• Bryant, J., & Zillmann, D. (2002). Media effects: Advances in theory and research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Chikombero, P. M., Haridakis, P. M., Hullman, G. A., Pornsakulvanich, V., & Sun, S. (2003). Television exposure not predictive of terrorism fear. Newspaper Research Journal, 24(1), 128.

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