SSC Media Studies: Research Log 2- Moral Panics

'Fear and the expression of fear behaviors are evolutionarily advantageous and

necessary for survival.'

Fear can be looked at as positive in some sense because it makes us cautious and aware of the dangers in the environment we live in.

'An example of the tragedy of PTSD is illustrated in the following quote

from a Marine who served 3 tours in Iraq.

My brother decided to join the National Guard to get some money for college and

they promised he wouldn’t go to Iraq. Instead after enlisting he was sent to Iraq.

Since he has been home…he refuses to talk to anyone…He called me a few

weeks ago for the first time and told me he’s having nightmares…about picking

up the pieces of his fellow soldiers after a car bomb hit…Every one of the 2

Marines I served with has broken down crying…saying all they can do since they

got back is bounce from job to job, drink, do drugs, and contemplate suicide to

end the pain…soldiers with wounds you can’t see (Richards, 2007). '

This stood out to me not just because of the representation of fear in someone's very personal experience but also because I could link this to my essay because I am using Islam, due to the negative representation of the Islamic faith in the media people may jump to the conclusion that this man has suffered not because of his job but because of the people of Islamic faith in Iraq rather than the soldiers that are fighting. The media creates a stereotype that puts audiences under the assumption that everything that goes wrong in countries associated with Islam is always down to those under that religious belief, I think this is because it's the quickest assumption they hear the country or name and it immediately comes to mind.

SSC Media Studies