Media Panics

Cultural panics have existed as long as culture itself. The rise of the mass media from the 17th century onward, however, meant that panics could be monitored, contained, and most importantly, created by the media itself. In the 20th century, the introduction of social statistics and the ever-increasing amount of scientific information available for public scrutiny encouraged panics over increasing crime, environmental degradation, changing social norms about gender and sexuality, and a host of health-related issues. Strikingly, these panics frequently tell us more about the structure and power of the media than they do about the object supposedly causing panic. This entry is in three sections. First, it charts the rise of the media panic in the mass media and the special role of statistical, scientific and technological data in the creation of media panics. Second, the entry summarizes key points about what media panics tell us about the media itself. Finally, this entry considers contemporary theories that suggest media panics are a defining characteristic of contemporary social life.