Culture of Fear

Watch enough brutality on TV and you come to believe you are living in a cruel and gloomy world in which you feel vulnerable and insecure. In his research over three decades Gerbner found that people who watch a lot of TV are more likely than others to believe their neighborhoods are unsafe, to assume that crime rates are rising, and to overestimate their own odds of becoming a victim. They also buy more locks, alarms, and- you guessed it- guns, in hopes of protecting themselves. 'They may accept and even welcome,' Gerbner reports, 'repressive measures such as more jails, capital punishment, harsher sentences- measures that have never reduced crime but never fail to get votes- if that promises to relieve their anxieties. That is the deeper dilemma of violence-laden television.'"

Barry Glassner has a very interesting theory of the media and its impact on society. However, I would have to say I agree with his studies. Television, newspapers, and magazines broadcast violence and chaos to the public. With the power of exaggeration and telling only a single story they are able to convince an entire population we live in a very dangerous world. It takes away our happiness and instills fear resulting in the bulking of security and people building up walls both physically and socially. The results of these "warnings" from the media ends up being quite ironic as the security meant to protect is often the very assist of a burglar breaking in.

It is an insane reminder of the power of entertainment and print and how heavily it can influence the day to day lives of  many people.