Media Induced Fear and Anxiety - Georgetown University: Web ...

concludes that we are much more afraid of the uncommon things that are
disproportionately overplayed, namely by the media. Cohl chronicles many modern
fears, breaking them up into the categories: “To Your Health,” “Home Sweet Home?”
“Urban/Suburban Survival,” and “Our Environment.” Within these chapters, he covers
everything from fear of flying to the hysteria over breast implants, from lead-based paint
in the home to mad cow disease, from fear of modern technology to obesity. He
illustrates how preoccupation with fear blinds people to possible solutions or
preventions. For example, people may be so afraid of discovering they have cancer that
they refrain from having regular physical examinations. In avoiding the doctor, they
sacrifice the possibility of early detection, which in many cases has proven to save lives.
Cohl emphasizes that people are literally paralyzed by the thought of the risk and do not
take the appropriate actions to reduce the probability of harm. In his book Culture of
Fear, Frank Furedi also points out the consequences of this fearful society and how it
blinds people to possible solutions.
Studies on fear are certainly not limited to literature. Particularly, Michael
Moore’s documentary film, Bowling for Columbine, has attracted massive attention.
Moore confronts the issue of violence in the United States, and explicitly contends with
how fears about violence are often misguided and how people seek to place the blame
on scapegoats. The film raises some very pertinent questions about fear and its
symptoms in American society. One of the most disturbing aspects of the film is how
readily citizens of the United States jump into a state of anxiety. For example, after the
Columbine High School shootings in Colorado, a kindergarten student in the Midwest
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