Stanley Cohen describes moral panic as when a group of people become fearful of something that has been called deviant by a higher group of people. (Cohen, 2002). Moral panic is dangerous because it can distribute a false, or over zealous fear across media platforms and those who watch it. The panic is often formed due to people like editors, bishops, politicians and other right-thinking people who preach to disdain something. (Cohen, 2002). When false idealoligies and fear are spread through the widestream media they sometimes become polarized and believed to be as threatening as the media claims. One of Cohen’s necessary characteristics for a successful moral panic is someone who is seen as a soft target, who can be easily denounced and with little power (Cohen, 2002). An immigrant in America is an easy target for moral panic as they are not widely accepted, and are thought of usually in a negative light.…show more content… The title is, “What is MS-13, the violent gang Trump vowed to target?”, the title essentially states that there is a villian, and a hero who has vowed to defeat them. Kaitlyn tells us that this violent gang was started by Central American immigrants, a majority of them from El Salvador, based in Los Angeles during the 1980s” (Schallhorn, 2018). Howard Becker, an American Sociologist, developed a term called ‘Moral entrepreneur’, or people in a high position. In this certain position of power they campaign to have certain deviance outlawed from society. (Becker, 1963). Fox News acts as a moral entrepreneur in a sense that they are using MS-13 to push the fear of immigration onto it’s
