RE: "The media coverage of school yard bullying"

In Katie Myer's blog post "The media coverage of school yard bullying" she looked at the media's coverage of school bullying using the example of Casey Heynes (who now has a tribute website), and how it has created a 'moral panic' regarding this issue of bullying. I however do not wish to respond to this, rather I'd prefer to reiterate it by looking further at the moral panic of bullying.

Anything that concerns the safety of children is always going to attract a lot of attention, so it makes sense that when the media report on bullying that there would be a public outcry. Yet it seems that this moral panic is a capricious one, whilst not denying the excess to which bullying occurs, due to its hidden nature bullying generally flies under the media's radar, and it is only when something extreme or especially dramatic occurs that this moral panic arises (Cohen 2002).  The video of Casey Heynes and his tormentor is a perfect example of this as it is right in the face of the public. Other examples of bullying creating a public fear off the top of my head are the Columbine Massacres, or the bullying related suicides of Alex Wildman or Hope Witsell, all of which spurned on a the outcry, as Katie stated, that bullying is on the rise and that school is no longer a safe place for our children. It seems though the media has no factual evidence of such, and are just using these extreme cases to  coerce us into believing it's a far greater concern and danger than what it really is. Ultimately what is happening is these extreme cases are creating a cognitive shift from "'how could it happen in a place like this?' to 'it could happen anyplace'" (Cohen 2002, p. xiii.

For the second half of this blog I'd like to make mention of the link Alyce posted in her comment on Katie's blog. The link is to a Media Watch piece about the Casey Heynes saga, where Media Watch discuss and pull apart the reporting methods and tactic used by ACA (A Current Affari) and TT (Today Tonight). I hadn't though much of it, but after watching this video I was appalled by how these reporter had invaded the lives of these kids, prodding them and asking for intimate details, just to milk their story without even or concealing their names or faces.

I don't like to say it, but it's times like this I feel the media are criminal.


References:

Cohen, S., 2003, Folk devils and moral panics : the creation of the mods and rockers, 3rd edn, Routledge, New York.