COMS 2500 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Moral Panic, Bioterrorism, Risk Society

• School: Carleton University
• Department: Communication and Media Studies
• Course: COMS 2500
• Professor: Scott Mitchell

Document Summary

A condition, episode, person, or group persons that emerges to become defined as a threat to social values and interests. As a media practice, this is associated with presenting things in a stylized or stereotypical fashion, creating and amplifying anxiety. The media amplifies anxiety" through 3 processes: distortion or exaggeration, prediction of dire consequences, symbolization of words and images signifying threat. Role of journalism: serving the public good ; informing people and serving as a watchdog. Potential conflicts: story choices, deadline pressures, framing/ context/ omissions/ hype, influence of advertisers or owners. Framing: ryan, carragee and meinhofer (2001): a frame is an organization of news stories and other discourses by their patterns of selection, emphasis, interpretation, and exclusion, which can reveal underlying structural and ideological practices that produce meaning. Frames can change how people see and understand the story. Slovic: quantitatively assessing risks from complex hazards is difficult for the public.