Fear has great power over people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions. Fear makes people vulnerable to outside influences, and can result in actions one normally would not take. The media utilizes and manipulates this vulnerability to their advantage by constructing narratives that create a moral panic. Stanley Cohen described this sociological concept in his book Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rocker, which was published in 1972. Stanley describes a moral panic as: “A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests.” The threat is often not based in reality at all or it is grossly exaggerated. People come to fear this supposed “folk devil,” which refers to the entity that is perceived as a threat to their personal morals and the morals of society, because of the narrative constructed by the media. 

Moreover, the degree in which any given moral panic affects society varies. Some moral panics are short-lived, and once the media finds something more thrilling to focus on and obsess over, they stop covering the issue that caused the moral panic as if it has somehow been miraculously solved. For instance, there could be a short-term panic about a particular gang causing violence in a local area. The media may increasingly cover this gang in the news because of a notable instance of violence that drew attention to the gang. Once media stops covering it after few days or a week, though, the issue seems solved whether there is actually still gang violence occurring with this gang or not. Other panics take longer to subside, and require action from outside sources to convince the panic-stricken public that their moral society will remain intact. For instance, there has been a widespread moral panic about racialized crime that has lasted for years, and perhaps decades because it is constantly covered in the media. In some cases, public policy and law subdue the panic that plagues society. The law has a great influence on both sides of panic: the creation and the resolution. Politicians utilize their influence on the law, policy, and media to exploit pre-existing societal fears to produce moral panics that help them in some way. For example, constructing a moral panic may be a strategy for a politician to gain political support from their electorate. 

Throughout modern history, several instances have indicated that the law has effectively assuaged the fears of society to eliminate moral panic. The supposed increase in criminal activity and violence in youth, particularly black and Latino youth, during the 1950s that the media portrayed as a changing of middle-class morals and values created panic among the white middle-class society. Magazines and film identified certain elements of culture, such as the switchblade, as the causes of the rise in crime. The switchblade was portrayed as a dangerous tool being utilized at a significantly increasing rate by juveniles across the country. For example, the popular musical West Side Story was made into a Hollywood film during this era, and the juvenile gang members in the movie threaten other gang members with a switchblade. The media emphasized the dangerous nature of the switchblade by manipulating the pre-existing societal fears of increased crime and juvenile delinquency. 

However, in the decades after these laws were passed, there was little to no evidence of an actual increase in crime due to switchblade use. It seems confusing why people could so easily be convinced that public morals were being deeply threatened by something that statistically did not present significant danger. With a panicked society, politicians and policymakers found it fit to initiate legislation to ban switchblades. The “Switchblade Knife Act,” a law passed in 1958, federally limited the manufacturing and transportation of switchblades. Additionally, states like Colorado, among many others, banned switchblades completely in the late 1950s through the early 1960s. The moral panic initiated Hollywood’s representation of the switchblade provided a chance for state and federal politicians to take action through the law to preserve the upright morals of society. Politicians hoped that putting effort into ending this moral panic and saving civil society would gain them votes. These laws have not been shown to decrease crime, yet today, 14 states still have laws that make switchblades illegal. Thus, there still remains components in the modern law of past moral panics, even though the laws were not created with a basis in reality and have not been proven to have their intended outcomes. 

Conversely, politicians have manipulated the concept of moral panic to their advantage by influencing the media to create or further exaggerate and intensify an existent moral panic. An increase in crime, especially crime committed by non-white people, is a fear that is inculcated into American society. In the 1990s, a disproportionate emphasis on crimes committed by non-white people due to white society fears of black crime. This stemmed from the narrative the media has constructed of crime for decades. Politicians took advantage of the increasing concern of racialized crime, and some employed manipulation tactics to create moral panic to benefit their political goals. 

For instance, George H. W. Bush ran for office in 1988, and his opponent Michael Dukakis was gaining rapid support in the polls. With a grim projection for his campaign, Bush needed to find a way to attract voters, so he utilized the tactic of playing on society’s growing fear of racialized crime. Dukakis supported a furlough program in Massachusetts, which would permit convicts to leave prison to work on the weekends. Willie Horton, a convict serving a life sentence for murder, was permitted to participate in the furlough program. During one of his furloughs, he did not return to prison and committed more crimes, including robbery and rape. Bush used this instance to demonize Dukakis for supporting a furlough program that allowed murderers to roam the streets and commit crimes. He developed a narrative through the media with commercials and spoke about Willie Horton in his speeches so much that Willie Horton became a symbol of the fear of crime. This strategy worked, and Bush pulled ahead to win the election. By increasing people’s fears and creating a moral panic, Bush persuaded people that murderers like Willie Horton would come hurt them, even though this is based less on reality and more on emotion. 

As mass media continues to become more influential, politicians have capitalized on their power to influence the media more and more, and in turn have created moral panic, in some instances. For example, President Trump is outspoken on various forms of media, including Twitter, about the caravans of allegedly dangerous immigrants that cross the US-Mexican border. He exploits narratives that play on people’s fears that immigrants come to take people’s jobs and commit crime as justification for his anti-immigration law and policy. By increasing the people’s fears about immigrants crossing the border, Trump legitimizes his policy, which ultimately helps increase his public approval. President Trump deliberately creates a moral panic that is only loosely based on any factual evidence to drive his policy with the hopes of ultimately gaining enough popularity to win the 2020 election. 

Moral panic, a recurring phenomenon, is caused by the exploitation and manipulation of people’s fears by the media. While some panics fizzle out on their own, some become so widespread that they need outside efforts from the law to convince the public that the issue is solved. Unfortunately, politicians have preyed upon the vulnerability of their voters in times of fear to increase their approval ratings. Now, the media’s influence is so strong that modern politicians can abuse this to construct a moral panic and then create laws to solve the problem. Politicians essentially create a moral issue or exaggerate an existing one to then solve the problem they created. For this reason, it is important for citizens to rationalize their fears and recognize when law and policy exist to solve essentially non-existent problems in society.