1 Something unsettling or disturbing or
frightening happens. The media
focus on the event in the course of
their usual news cycle. There is
significant reader or viewer response
and interest; the cycle ramps up.
PIT BULLS ATTACK FOUR-
YEAR-OLD.
MAULED CHILD REQUIRES
EXTENSIVE SURGERY.
ATTACK DOGS HAD A
HISTORY OF AGGRESSION.2 Hostility and negativity are
expressed openly. The media
coverage intensifies focus and
discourse on the offending person or
thing.
PIT BULLS ARE CANINE
EVIL.3 A person or group standing at the
epicenter of a growing moral panic is
demonized and its defenders or
representatives become folk devils.
OUT-OF-WORK TRUCK
DRIVER JOHN SMITH
CAMPAIGNS TO GET HIS
ATTACK DOGS BACK; HIRES
A LAWYER.
SMITH’S LAWYER CLAIMS:
CHILD CROSSED
PROPERTY LINES TO
TEASE ATTACK DOGS.4 Individuals or institutions step
forward to serve as moral
entrepreneurs; evidence to the
contrary ignored or buried.
JUDGE SAYS PIT BULLS ARE
DEADLY WEAPONS.
NUMEROUS STUDIES
SHOW PIT BULLS NO MORE
PRONE TO BITING THAN
OTHER BREEDS.5 The media coverage intensifies and
the press looks aggressively for any
stories which may be tied into the
triggering event.
PIT BULL ATTACK KILLS PET.
PIT BULL BITES OFFICER
KRUPKE.6 The message moves beyond its
original sphere at an ever increasing
speed, abetted by the media,
politicians, and sometimes those
with a commercial interest in the
outcome.
DOG ATTACKS UP 40%. HOW
SAFE IS YOUR BACKYARD?
EXPERTS RECOMMEND
FENCES AT LEAST 6 FEET
HIGH.