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For instance, the legislator could create laws and have his political status established as a result of a moral panic through the media and the police could gain more funds to aid in 'fighting deviance'. Furthermore, the media is responsible to protect the public interest through the proper dissemination of information. The public should be aware of events that affect them through the news. News that stirs up moral panics does not seem to be in the public interest because the end result is fear and anxiety (Ben-Yehuda, 2009: 1). It then seems that the media may only be interested in its business competition through the selling of a breaking story to attract more viewership and not minding how the news is presented thereby fulfilling its own interest. It could also be that the media in creating a moral panic is not aware that it is doing so and may publish or broadcast news in the public interest since its duty is to create awareness of issues prevalent in the society.

Moral panics have certain effects on the society. They create stereotypes, for instance, (Young, 2009:6) thereby segregating a particular class or group of people within society. A stereotype is a social classification of a group based on a particular set of values, judgments and assumptions toward the group's behaviour, characteristics or history (O'Sullivan, et al., 1994:299). The Mods and Rockers were stereotyped because they behaved and did things differently from the rest of the society at the time. They dressed differently, rode scooters and motor-bikes and they were two confrontational groups. As a result they were seen as a threat to 'traditional, decent values of law and order' (Critcher, 2006: xii). According to Cohen (1980:62) the Mods and Rockers were seen as a disease that needed to be cured or completely removed from society therefore they experienced indignation. A survey revealed that the media's reaction to the Mods and Rockers were more intense and stereotypical than the opinion of the public (Cohen, 1980: 66). In addition, moral panics create fear, anxiety and panic among members of society. Statistics show that fear is created especially among older people (Cohen 1980:70). For instance, as mentioned earlier, during the 1982 drug scare in Israel, parents out of fear and anxiety about the 'terrible drug problem' that had invaded high schools, withdrew their children from school. The sort of presentation and language used by the media may cause its audience to think they are living in a very unsafe environment while that may not be entirely true. Also, moral panics could help establish new laws claimed to guard the moral values and interests of the society and even if it does not do so, it leaves memories that usher in the next panic (Ben-Yehuda, 2009: 3). For instance, early 1970 in America, President Nixon successfully carried out a war on drugs that later paved the way for subsequent drug panic that led to the creation of laws against illicit drug taking in America in 1986 and 1989 (Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 1994:169). All these prove that moral panics could either have a lasting or a short term effect on a society. The effect could be felt at th本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。