... this respect, are a prime example. This is especially so where exaggeration and sensationalised reporting are used. Moral panic is a natural by product of the deviancy amplification spiral. Where all instances of a given activity are reported, the true level of it will be magnified. The public become alarmed, pressure mounts for official action, knee-jerk legislation may result and everything gets out of proportion. Moral Panic is essentially irrational. It is not the product of sound judgement and sober deliberation. Nostalgia for a past "Golden Era" of law and order and moral rectitude fuels moral panic. The better the perceived past, the worse the apparent present. The media are widely regarded, by Social Scientists such as Cohen, as provocative in the way they handle crime as news. They cultivate and sustain moral panic by actively fuelling society's fascination with crime and conjure a false impression of its prevalence. ...

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