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Jenna LaPlante MIT 3217 Professor Robert Babe Thursday April 7th 2011 Moral Panic and Public Opinion Truth and fact are no longer at the forefront of media. Rather, there is an integrated dialogue that is serving the interests of the corporate establishments, as well as the elites in the government, to selectively construct a truth that will support current economic and political options. Large sections of society are constantly surrendering to fear tactics used by the media as a manipulation tactic. Fear as a persuasion device becomes more prominent in influencing public opinion as fabrications of stories are created to instil a level of concern, far out of proportion from the actual threat. Such moral panics allow for submission of public opinion to the mainstream media. Manufacturing Consent The mass media, including news stations, newspapers and advertisements serve as a system for communicating messages to the democratic population. Their primary function is to amuse, entertain and inform individuals with the values, beliefs and codes of behaviour that will integrate them into the institutional structures of the larger society (Herman & Chomsky 1). In doing so, the media system inadvertently manipulates the news and imposes an agenda set primarily by the government. The term manufacturing consent, initially coined by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky, describes this propaganda model used by corporate media to shape public opinion. It establishes conformity and manipulates the public into accepting authority and social hierarchy in a democratic society. It is in Chomsky and Hermans view that the media

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propagandize on behalf of the powerful societal interests that control and finance them (Herman & Chomsky xi). Specifically, it allows the government to get their messages across to the public. Moreover, the propaganda model acknowledges that the media is to inculcate and defend the economic, social, and political agenda of the privileged groups that dominate the domestic society and the state (Herman & Chomsky 298). The media often serve this purpose through framing an issue and distributing concerns via scare tactics. Scare Tactics

Fear is a natural reaction to a perceived threat. When put in that state of vulnerability, the media ultimately takes advantage as they attempt to shape public opinion. This fear appeal works as a persuasive message attempting to arouse emotion of fear by depicting a personally relevant and significant threat and then follows this description of the threat by outlining recommendations presented as effective and feasible in deterring the threat (Walton 1). Such a threat is commonly composed of scare words, consequence or harm that will occur if one does not adopt the recommended response. Douglas Walton described opinions as somewhat divided on how effective fear appeals are, but the growing use of them suggests that these appeals are successful as devices of persuasion (Walton 1).

When motivating the masses to take action, facts are often not enough. People tend to act out of fear, thus the media utilizes scare tactics to create a sense of shock or fear in the recipients, eventually persuading the masses to take action. The media is saturated with scare words, that is, words that carry connotations to elicit fear. This propaganda model uses specific words intended to draw emotions from the reader or listener. Using loaded words such as pandemic, genocide and terrorists inaccurately furthers the stigma associated with these words, their ideas and the

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people used in the description. These fears, rational or irrational, are often enough to manipulate people into making uninformed decisions and taking quick action. Scare tactics such as pointing out the worst case scenario or associating the issue with a greater threat are common manipulations used by the media to garner popular support for military actions, political issues and other controversial decisions. Although scare tactics are not meant to cause widespread harm or damage, they are meant to play on the recipients innate sense of security.

Scare Tactics throughout history

Like their present-day counterparts, early forms of media used fear in an effort to inspire political action. For example, according to The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, a 1986 magazine of science and world affairs, atomic scientists rallied around the 1946 Acheson-Lilienthal Plan for the international control of atomic energy. In radio programs, lectures, and articles in magazines such as Life, Americans were told of the horrors of the atomic war in the most vivid terms. Articles titled Mist of Death Over New York and The 36-Hour War described in realistic detail an atomic explosion that sent a deadly radioactive cloud drifting over the country while underlining facts which could be true (Boyer 17) . This mass fear was aimed at hopefully sparking a demand for the abolition of atomic weapons. The frightening speeches, articles and radio broadcasts invariably ended with a call for support (Boyer 18) because people genuinely believed the atomic scientists conscious manipulation of the public opinion. Although this method was extreme, many citizens responded favourably to these fear tactics in that they eventually supported the international control of atomic energy. Scare Tactics in the Medical World

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As society is constantly bombarded with information and images, medical information has become agenda-driven [and] exaggerated by the media (Siegel16). Illness has become less acceptable and the mass media tend to magnify health concerns and broadcast it to the masses, elevating an issue and provoking panic. As a result, government officials and politicians imply the media megaphone to promote the idea that they are keeping the populace safe (Siegel 16). The media misdirects and diverts away from the real dangers. Fuelled by fragments of bad news from media and internet sources, [people] fear the worst-case-scenario (Siegel 39). As Marc Siegel pointed out in False Alarm, Mad Cow disease is only a tiny risk as only 150 deaths occurred compared to 5 000,000 cases of salmonella food poisoning. This was an isolated incident used to wrongly profess a trend.These wrongly professed trends are common in the media, especially in the regarding coverage of H1N1.

H1N1 Case Study

The culture of fear artificially constructs society and shapes public opinion as alerts about the anthrax panic, the SARS epidemic and West Nile virus, are continuously bombarding the media landscape, even if the disasters never materialize. Throughout history, the epidemic of choice was the plague; years later, people continue to buy into the H1N1 virus, a recent pandemic medical term of choice. Influenza is a single word that can cause a panic. The news media and Canadian medical propaganda are using this to play into peoples fears about their health and safety. But with little suggested about the pandemic, there is little known about the flu unless people search for their own answers. In August 2010, the World Health Organization had issued a post-pandemic plan for H1N1, and the director general stated that the world is no longer in pandemic alert (WHO).

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However, as the Canadian government funded a 130 million dollar ad campaign for the flu vaccine, advertisements and news sources continue to run segments that support the governments choice in spending that money. A CBC news article quoted the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada in saying that in the context of a global H1N1 pandemic, a significant amount of advertising costs can be attributed to the efforts of the [government of Canada], in partnership with the provinces and territories, to encourage Canadians to protect themselves against the virus. The overwhelming media hype surrounding this pandemic worked to prime public opinion for a conditioned response: if there is a pandemic, get the vaccination.

During times of perceived crisis, there are increased economic as well as political pressures on the media to provide positive coverage of national political leadership. As a response to the massive investment in the flu vaccination campaign, Canadian health leaders are looking to justify the money by promoting the vaccination, thus manufacturing a positive response toward the investment. The advertisements thrive on using scare tactics to elicit a specific response. Public health authorities talk in terms of the worst-case scenario as they strive to commit massive resources to their agendas. If society fears death, it is easier to sign them up for vaccines and other programs that are proposed to be in their best interests. Globe and Mail Article An article titled 'Normal' flu season packed with surprises published in the Globe and Mail presents potentially negative news about the drama surrounding H1N1 and the 'normal' flu in 2011. The article title emphasizes the word normal and scares readers with the word surprise because with all the media hype in 2009, the word flu and surprise should not go hand-in-hand.

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Returned with a vengeance, pre-schoolers are getting very ill and dying and so far this year it is hitting hardest in southern Ontario are loaded statements that connote fear to an unconfirmed threat. Moreover, the article promotes angst and concern by stating that [p]aradoxically, this normal flu season will likely prove far more deadly than the pandemic suggests without fact that this year will be worse than 2009. Generous use of war jargon such as vengeance, dying, deadly, unpredictable, pandemic and warning works as a chilling proposal to create an atmosphere of panic. The final statement reads [t]his could serve as a warning to Canada that its flu season may not follow traditional patterns. This report unequivocally suggests that Canada is in danger, thus getting vaccinated would be the ultimate choice. As people begin to realize the pandemic is over, the media uses these scare tactics to create anxiety about yet another health concern. As a result, the article is presented as fact and promotes the government supported flu vaccine that has been updated in the past year. Catch It Bin It Kill It Advertisement The Catch it, Bin it, Kill it advertisement is one of the many advertisements attempting to use scare tactics in order to induce an audience response. The advertisement demonstrates the threat of walking into a communal elevator that someone with the flu has sneezed in. The germs leave the man and stick to all the areas that people are accustomed to touch in the elevator. According to Richard Jackson Harris in The Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication, the emotional involvement we have with the media depends on how we identify with the character (Harris 52). In this particular instance, almost every person can identify with the main character as we most likely enter an elevator on a regular basis. This perceived reality becomes significant in our own lives (Harris 52), thus, we readily take the perspective of that character and are influenced to take the precautions he is taking. A less subtle fear appeal involves

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demonstrating the effects on children (Harris 115). This fear tactic is used in advertising with the hopes of persuading parents to keep their children safe. The overdramatic interplay between the man sneezing and many people catching the flu virus increases apprehension, thus persuading the public to follow the catch it, bin it, kill it instructions and get vaccinated. Newspaper Headlines Through analyzing the headlines in the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Sun over the past year (February 2010-March 2011) that contained information regarding the H1N1, it is concluded that scare words are used more than the word vaccine, even though it was reported that the pandemic was over. The headlines in the Toronto Sun containing scare words (threat, risk, fear, crisis, death and pandemic) resulted in 37% of the headlines, while 28% focused on vaccine. The Globe and Mail, in comparison, used scare words in 35% of its headlines, while 20% focused on vaccine. It is concluded that over half of the headlines in both sources used scare words or the promotion of the flu vaccine in order to harvest moral panic and manufacture a response in favour of the vaccine. Priority is given to alarming the public or endorsing the flu vaccine in order to further elevate public approval for the millions spent on flu vaccine and advertisement.

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The Globe and Mail

Risk 3% Threat 2% Fear 7% Crisis 5% Death/Fatal 5% Pandemic 13%

Other 45%

Vaccine 20%

Risk 0%

Toronto Sun
Threat Fear 4% 3% Crisis 3%

Other 35%

Death/Fatal 17% Pandemic 10% Vaccine 28%

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30

25

20 Globe and Mail Toronto Sun 10

15

0 Scare Words Vaccine Other

In conducting the content analysis, it is seen that what all these arguments have in common, is that they describe the danger to the target audience then present a recommended action. The fear tactics used in the advertisement, article and newspaper headlines elicit a sense of hysteria among the public, and its intention is to garner support from the public. On the surface, a strong public health initiative seems warranted, thus creating global panic by controlling the populace through fear will improve public cooperation resulting in the justification of spending that kind of money. In essence, make people afraid, make people feel they need you to protect them, and they allow you free rein with your agenda (Siegel146) It seems as though the media works to manufacture consent as they are responsible for many of the ideas the public holds. What becomes paramount is where these popular media outlets get their ideas from. In this particular case study, the media is not providing the diverse

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and opposing views about the flu; rather they are resorting to frightening the public in order to compel them to listen to seemingly best available option which is to get vaccinated. Conclusion As the interaction between culture and fear continuously materializes, one point can be agreed upon: fear is valuable. As Siegel states, we are all suckers for a scary story, and too willing to believe one (215). Scare tactics are present in the dissemination of media. Loaded words, images and messages are a common form of propaganda used to confirm likely and often unlikely threats. There are a variety of rhetorical tasks and constructed commentary that assist in getting our attention and making the number of current and potential disasters more obvious and scary. This type of reporting demonstrates less of an investigative approach and invariably falls into irrational conclusions based on the premise that worry and fear were generated by mainstream media. Whether it is to stir controversy, increase ratings or to concede with elite pressure, the media employ scare tactics to sensationalize and create a sense of fear in order to manufacture consent and manipulate public opinion.

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Works Cited Boyer, Paul. "A Historical View of Scare Tactics." Bulletin of Atomic Scientists 1986. Web. Mar. 2011. <http://books.google.ca>. CBC.ca - Canadian News Sports Entertainment Kids Docs Radio TV. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. <http://www.cbc.ca/news/>. "H1N1 in Post Pandemic Period." World Health Organization. 10 Aug. 2010. Web. Apr. 2011. <http://www.who.int/>. Harris, Richard Jackson. A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication. 5th ed. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print. Herman, Edward S., and Noam Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent: the Political Economy of the Mass Media. New York: Pantheon, 1988. Print. Picard, Andre. "Normal Flu Season Packed With Surprises." The Globe and Mail 2 Jan. 2011. Print. Siegel, Marc. False Alarm The Truth About The Epidemic of Fear. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2005. Print. Swine Flu: Catch It, Bin It, Kill It. Advertisement. The Telegraph. Web. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/swine-flu/5244796/Swine-flu-Mass-advertising-campaignas-ministers-step-up-fight.html#>. The Toronto Sun [Toronto]. Print. Walton, Douglas. Scare Tactics: Arguments That Appeal to Fear and Threat. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic, 2000. Print.