Moral Panic and the Media

Moral Panic - (aids, youth uprising, child abuse, paedophilia)
- Breakdown/lack of morals - performed by the 'folk devil'
- Large public outcry - people feel threatened and want to resolve it.
- Gap in the media - how do they cover it?
- Something that happens which causes a moral discussion - needs to be sorted out.

Abstract concept used to make sense of "irrational public hysteria"
Public and academic debate on moral panic works on the assumption that the media plays a significant role in determining the characteristics of a moral panic.
This signifies a complex process that shapes public perceptions of a perceived threat to the moral code of society.

Process Model:
Applies to process of a moral panic. 7 defined stages (Stanley Conon "folk devils & moral panics" 1973)
1. Emergence: when a form of behaviour becomes perceived as a threat.
2. Media inventory: explanation of the threat is manipulated by media (desertion exaggeration)
3. Moral entrepreneur: group organisation speak out and offer solutions.
4. Experts: socially accredited experts who diagnose solutions
5. Coping resolutions: reaction of the media, moral entrepreneurs and experts leads to legal reform.
6. Fading away: the condition disappears; submerging into the culture, or deterring becoming less visible.
7. Legacy: a moral panic has a long term effect and creates big changes in social policy, the law or society's views on itself.

Attribution model: Eric Goode & Nachman
Ben Yehudah Study - "Moral panics = social construction of deviance" (1994)
Claims those working in the media, political insitutions of the legal system impact on moral panics through "claims making."
- 5 elements of criteria distinguish attributes of moral panics.
1. Concern - a heightened level of concern, measurable through opinion polls etc.
2. Hostility - increased hostility to a group or category - seen as 'enemy' to respectable society (folk devils)
3. Consensus - a sustained segment of social agrees that the threat is caused by wrong doers.
4. Disproportionates - the reaction by the public is out of proportion to the cultural harm.
5. Volatility - the idea that moral panics are volatile by nature, erupts quickly but also often subsides quietly - each episode cannot be sustained for long.

Michael Caine

Michael Caine is a well known British actor whose career kick started when he starred in the TV play The Compartment, which later lead to him starring in Zulu, Alfie, Hurry Sundown, The Italian Job, Get Carter and many more. Unfortunatly, Caine (real name Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, Jr.) came from humble beginnings; his father was a Fish Market Porter and his mother was a Charwoman. From an early age he was eagerly interested in the film industry, but found himself being turned down more often than not. Atfer many agents,and shooting TV play The Compartment Caine was finally took on by Dennis Selinger who was the biggest agent in England at the time. This was the initiation of his career as it wasn't long after that he got his breakthrough film role in Zulu. Since then, he has only built upon his extraordinary reputation and is still starring in brilliant British films.

Cover Work

The term "Folk Devil" (introduced by sociologist Stanley Cohen in 1972) means a person or group of people who are portrayed in the media as being rebels or outsiders. They are stereotypically mods and/or rockers accused of committing crimes and blamed for social problems.

"Moral Panic" is expressed when a population feel that the social order is under threat by an intimidating and alarming group of people (often called folk devils). Moral panics are by-products of controversies that produce arguments and social tension.

The Motion Picture Production Code (MPPC)

The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry censorship guidelines which were put in place from 1930 to 1968 in the US. These guidelines were set up in order to monitor the production of films, and to inform motion picture companies what was acceptable and not acceptable. This was to ensure that the contents were suitable for public audiences and would not set a bad influence. The MPPC was also commonly referred to as the Hays Code after its creator Will H. Hays.

Here are a few of the codes "General Principles"

1. No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.
2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented.
3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.

Comparison on Britsh Films

Somers Town and Slumdog Millionaire are both British films, but what makes a film British? They both have elements of different cultures in them, with some elements more apparent than others. In Slumdog Millionaire for example, the whole film is set in India and has an almost all Indian cast. This would lead you to disagree with the notion of Slumdog Millionaire being a British film, however there are other factors to include in this argument. Although the co-director, Loveleen Tandan originates from India, Danny Boyle is a typically British Director who has a number of British films under his belt. You would also assume that it's target audience is British as it uses the English language. In addition, the theme of the whole film is based around the archetypal British game show 'Who wants to be a Millionaire', suggesting it's ideologies are also British.
Somers Town is similar but in a different way; it's set in the England's capital, London. This instantly directs an audience towards labeling the film as British also, however like Slumdog Millionaire it has a cultured and relatively concentrated cast, Piotr Jagiello who plays Marek who is polish, Ireneusz Czopn who plays Mariusz is French and we also meet many other characters whom are also immigrants. The reason this film shows culture is its focus on the newcomers settling in and the troubles they may face.
Overall, I would categorize both films as cultured British Films, with Slumdog Millionaire less typically British than Somers Town.

Homework - Curtisland

This article is suggesting that the release of the film Four Weddings and a Funeral, (the day after Labour leader, John Smiths death) was a turning point in English media as our ideologies changed. The film couldn't be called kitchen-sink nor carry-on and this lead to the perception of Britain to change. We became a broken home yet produced feel-good films it happy endings.

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