History Main / MediaScaremongering

** Though one issue of ''ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}'' has a non-Spidey banner headline... still proclaiming doom and terror.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan:'' The ''Daily Bugle'' is almost never without a banner headline proclaiming how the latest thing to hit New York is somehow, inevitably, Spider-Man's latest villainous scheme. Bank robbery? Spider-Man. Alien invasion? Spider-Man! Bad weather? ''SPIDER-MAN!''

If children are in danger, then it's HarmfulToMinors. If it's about new technology, then it's probably because ScienceIsBad. If it's a new minority or subculture, then lock the doors and hide your daughters -- it's the SubcultureOfTheWeek! Expecting volcanic eruptions in the midwest? Then it's likely a DisasterMovie. New diseases or health issues like high cholesterol and cancerous artificial sweetener? Then it's probably a ''Hallmark Channel'' MadeForTVMovie about a [[ThePollyanna Pollyanna]] and her family going through something truly {{Glurge}}-y.

Oh NO! It's the [[TheBlackDeath BLACK]] POLIO AIDS ANTHRAX MONKEY-POX SARS BIRD SWINE ZIKA EBOLA [[UsefulNotes/CovidPandemic CORONAVIRUS]]-19 [[UsefulNotes/TheSpanishFlu FLU!]] Wait. It's actually ACID [=RAINing=] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot AIRBORNE SAR-AIDS-CANCER]] over THE WHOLE OF NORTH AMERICA as a distraction for a SINISTER TERRORIST [[SatanicPanic SATANIC]] PLOT to ASSASSINATE UNWED TEENAGE MOTHERS by INNOCENT CHILDREN mind-controlled by [[MurderSimulators VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES]] and the [[DrugsAreBad LSD SOLD IN PRESCHOOL PLAYGROUNDS]]... and so on.

* ''Series/MockTheWeek'' also ran a story about Bird Flu, showing the scare-mongering of the English media. Also from the show is a rather famous monologue by Russell Howard about [[shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbWiysSqKRA scaremongering in British newspapers]].

* ''Series/MockTheWeek'' also ran a story about Bird Flu, showing the scare-mongering of the English media.

->"I JUST WATCHED A CABLE NEWS CHANNEL! EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE!"
-->--'''Caboose''', ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' Fire Safety PSA

* A RunningGag at Website/{{Fark}}. Submitted headlines for ridiculous scaremongering stories usually include the line [[http://www.fark.com/farq/farkisms.shtml#EVERYBODY_PANIC.21 EVERYBODY PANIC]] at the end.

* Parodied by Website/CollegeHumor [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XTwWqzKeXc&ob=av3e here.]] Set to Music/{{REM}}'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)", they showcase basically every ratings-driven media panic frenzy of the past 10-15 years, including [[MillenniumBug Y2K]], [[MayanDoomsday 2012]], [[PostPeakOil Peak Oil]], terrorist attacks, GlobalWarming, and the imminent ZombieApocalypse, RobotWar, and AlienInvasion.
* The Blog/ScarfolkCouncil would like to remind you that the small humanoids living in your home and eating your food may not be your children, that the tall humanoids who live in your house and feed you may not be your parents, and that foreigners may be stealing your thoughts, so you should [[BigBrotherIsWatching surrender them to the Scarfolk Council for safe keeping]].
* Webcomic/SluggyFreelance ran this one perfectly straight during the Storm Breaker Saga, when the evil book (The Book of E-Ville) goes missing on the battlefield between good and evil. The monk who'd had custody of the book tells everyone not to panic and it has to be there somewhere - when it turns up in the hands of one of the story's biggest idiots. The monk reverses course. [[http://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=14#1999-07-28 Seen here in the archives.]]
* Nicky Case's short game ''VideoGame/WeBecomeWhatWeBehold'' is a criticism of this. [[spoiler:In the last scene before the credits, the TV screen shows the headline "Be scared. Be angry.".]]
* Mocked on ''WebVideo/SomeMoreNews'' with their "No More Boar" series of videos, which, similarly with Creator/StephenColbert and his bears, attempts to 'awaken' America to the threat of radioactive, teleporting boar planning to KillAndReplace humanity. ([[BlatantLies Any rhetorical devices in these segments also sometimes used to demonize 'other' groupings in other ideologically aligned media is purely coincidental.]])

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* A cliche at Website/{{Fark}}. Submitted headlines for ridiculous scaremongering stories usually include the line [[http://www.fark.com/farq/farkisms.shtml#EVERYBODY_PANIC.21 EVERYBODY PANIC]] at the end.

[[folder:NewMedia]]
* Internet e-mail forwards and postings will often feature things from almost everything mentioned in the RealLife section and more. Examples are too numerous to list here (much like under Advertising) but can be found at such sites as ''{{WebSite/Snopes}}'' and [[http://www.truthorfiction.com/ TruthOrFiction.com]].
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. Along with the page quote from "The Smoking Peanut", there's "Wormy" where [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick stir Bikini Bottom into a frenzy when they start warning people about a monster (actually a butterfly).
-->'''Patrick:''' Attention, Bikini Bottom! There's a flying monster that's going to eat you!
** Also in the episode "Krab Borg", after Squidward learns that robots have "taken over the navy",
-->'''Squidward:''' Attention everyone, run for your lives! Robots have taken over the world!\\
''[[{{Beat}} Fish blink.]]''\\
'''Squidward:''' OUR WORLD!!\\
''crowd proceeds to panic''

You can panic now! Why? It's the [[TheBlackDeath BLACK]] POLIO AIDS ANTHRAX MONKEY-POX SARS BIRD SWINE ZIKA EBOLA [[UsefulNotes/CovidPandemic CORONAVIRUS]]-19 [[UsefulNotes/TheSpanishFlu FLU!]] Wait. It's actually ACID [=RAINing=] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot AIRBORNE SAR-AIDS-CANCER]] over THE WHOLE OF NORTH AMERICA as a distraction for a SINISTER TERRORIST [[SatanicPanic SATANIC]] PLOT to ASSASSINATE UNWED TEENAGE MOTHERS by INNOCENT CHILDREN mind-controlled by [[MurderSimulators VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES]] and the [[DrugsAreBad LSD SOLD IN PRESCHOOL PLAYGROUNDS]]... and so on.

Compare IfItBleedsItLeads and MonsterOfTheWeek. Not to be confused with FearIsTheAppropriateResponse, which describes a justified reaction to imminent real danger (as opposed to the sensationalized fearmongering described by this trope). Contrast BystanderSyndrome and ItsProbablyNothing, when situations that people should be rightly concerned about are dismissed as nothing important.

See also: AxesAtSchool, DisasterMovie, {{Glurge}}, NewMediaAreEvil, PaedoHunt, RippedFromTheHeadlines, SubcultureOfTheWeek, TabloidMelodrama, TheNewRockAndRoll, WesternTerrorists.

You can panic now! Why? It's the [[TheBlackDeath BLACK]] POLIO AIDS ANTHRAX MONKEY-POX SARS BIRD SWINE ZIKA EBOLA [[UsefulNotes/CovidPandemic CORONAVIRUS]]-19 [[UsefulNotes/TheSpanishFlu FLU!]] Wait. It's actually ACID [=RAINing=] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot AIRBORNE SAR-AIDS-CANCER]] over THE WHOLE OF NORTH AMERICA as a distraction for a SINISTER TERRORIST [[SatanicPanic SATANIC]] PLOT to ASSASSINATE UNWED TEENAGE MOTHERS by INNOCENT CHILDREN mind-controlled by [[UltraSuperDeathGoreFestChainsawer3000 VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES]] and the [[DrugsAreBad LSD SOLD IN PRESCHOOL PLAYGROUNDS]]... and so on.

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1654256966058687000 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* The [[HerrDoktor German monster scientist]] from ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' on the news says, "It is my considered opinion that now is the time to PANIC!" When Boo was discovered in the city.
[[/folder]]

->''"Attention zoo patrons! Clamu the Giant Oyster is on an emotional rampage! Please scream and run around in circles. ''[Attendees begin screaming and running in circles]'' Thanks for coming."''
-->-- '''Announcer on P.A.''', ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants,'' "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E12PressureTheSmokingPeanut The Smoking Peanut]]"

Completely unrelated to ThisIsNoTimeToPanic.

[[folder:RealLife]]
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism Anti-Semitic blood libels and conspiracy theories]]. These carry unique significance because they inspired the Holocaust itself.
* [[http://www.skepdic.com/antivaccination.html The anti-vaccination movement.]]
* [[http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/ideology/anti-immigrant Anti-immigrant hatred.]]
* [[http://www.dhmo.org/ DHMO.org]] parodies this. Spoiler: [[spoiler:It's water]].
* PaedoHunt.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parents_Music_Resource_Center The PMRC]] and "Tipper Stickers".
** The related alarm over [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backmasking backmasking.]]
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanic_ritual_abuse Satanic Ritual Abuse]] and the related concept of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recovered_memory_therapy recovered memories]] of child abuse.
* The War on Drugs.
* The RedScare.
* Any stock exchange or stock market crash.
* The aftermath of an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_bubble economic bubble.]]
* Search [[http://www.cracked.com/ cracked.com]] for [[http://www.cracked.com/article_17469_5-pathetic-groups-that-people-think-rule-world.html conspiracy]] theories.
* Vigilante justice, as vigilantes are almost always acting out of this when it's not direct revenge.
* 24-hour news networks in general. Specifically, a lot of coverage of UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror and terrorism post-9/11 has been accused of this; from some reporting, you'd think that there was a terrorist waiting behind every bush planning to assassinate you personally on your way to work.
** Any "tabloid-style" television news, such as that popularized by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Sanchez_(journalist) Rick Sanchez]] (no, not [[WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty that one]]) at Miami station WSVN.
* The coverage of the Great Recession, at least early on. You'd think from watching some of the reports that the whole world would implode at any moment.
** In February 2009, Hugo Lindgren-writing for the New York Times-coined the term "pessimism porn" to describe these relentless predictions of financial doomsday and the public's fascination with them.
** The absolute worst may come from a guy named Porter Stansberry, a supposed financial analyst who has been disciplined by the SEC for fraud. He's spent the past year flooding the internet, TV and radio waves with ads suggesting the that one of the most important dates in US history is coming and directing people to a website (whose URL is constantly changing). The site features a video with text and voiceovers only, explaining that the US dollar and economy will definitely collapse within the next year because all other nations are on the verge of agreeing to refuse US dollars (even though doing so would voluntarily ravage those countries' economies) and that the US government will respond by taking away everyone's money and sealing off all entry/exit to the country, so you need to get your money out of the country NOW (but then how will you get to it if the government is going to shut off access to other countries?). What's more, the narrator keeps saying that you MUST believe him because he correctly predicted the collapse of General Motors, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (news flash - a lot of people did). Oh, and did we tell you he knows the one thing that will not only save you but actually make money when this occurs, and he'll send you the booklet about it for free - IF you sign up for his $50 a month newsletter? (Spoiler alert - it's "buy a farm.")
* Every Environmental Scare Ever. According to Paul Ehrlich we've all died of skin cancer from UV exposure thanks to aerosol cans, the world is so crowded people are falling off, and there's no clean water left to drink-- oh, and the ever-popular 'we're running out of resources!'. These issues are real, but irrational attempts to solve them can and have made matters worse.
* Every few months or so, an article comes out saying that Facebook, Twitter, and texting make children and teens less socially interactive[=/=]have less empathy[=/=]have poorer grammar (despite the fact that you could say that about anything that allows you to communicate without actually talking to the person). This may or may not be true, however the way the media goes on about it you would think all people under the age of 20 who use social media are anti-social basement dwellers who spend all their time "sexting". This is probably a continuation of the fear when Website/MySpace was popular that all people children meet on there are pedophile serial killers.
* Every time a new doll aimed at preteen girls comes out, ''someone'' will freak out and claim that the dolls are promoting loose morals and/or flawed beauty standards.
* A guy came on Dr. Oz and speculated that apple juice was harmful to drink, mostly because of arsenic being found in the stuff. The guy who made the claims never mentioned that the organic arsenic compounds of the type found in apple juice are relatively innocuous compared to inorganic arsenic compounds. (Still not completely safe, of course, but ''nothing'' is '''completely''' safe.)
* Every few months, some major media network gets hold of a controversial scene[=/=]level[=/=]mechanic in a video game and raises a huge stink about it, claiming it's [[MurderSimulators turning people into psychopathic serial murderers]] or [[BasementDweller basement-dwelling losers.]]
** Or even just games in general. Minecraft --- a.k.a. the only game a lot of parents will let their under-10's play --- is being investigated in ''Turkey'' of all places for disturbing violent content against the in-game villagers. [[SarcasmMode Because Halo, Dead Space, and Resident Evil are all perfectly good, family-friendly games you want to play in view of your kids.]]
* Every couple of months, there will be an article in some magazine or a book by some non-writer about why African-American women can't seem to get married. The reasons cited will usually be the same: 1) AllTheGoodMenAreGay (or in prison) 2) Black men all marry white women 3) Black women are too picky 4) Black women are just plain un-marriageable (or ugly, in extreme cases). The solutions will always be the same: 1) BW should only date outside of their race or 2) BW should settle for the high school dropout on parole with 11 baby mamas. ''Essence'' magazine in particular gets a lot of heat for this.
** There are a LOT of magazine articles and books that exploit the fear that black women have of black men dating/ marrying women that are anything other than black. Almost to a predatory extent. Like the idea that black men go to Brazil not to experience the culture, but to hook up with AmbiguouslyBrown women that look like Nicole Scherzinger.
** On a more general related theme. Periodically, upmarket UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers such as the ''Guardian'' and the ''Observer'' run angst-laden fearful articles about why otherwise hyper-successful professional women who otherwise have got it all are in a state where, unaccountably, they are still single. These articles are invariably written by self-styled hyper-professional successful women who otherwise have got everything going for them, ie by newspaper journalists and opinion columnists who unaccountably remain single despite being young(ish), well-rewarded, attractive, and successful. They invariably come to a gloomy conclusion that all the ''best'' men are taken or else gay. Leaving only hopeless losers and deadbeats with inflated opinions of themselves. Of course, as ''we'' are successful in every conceivable way and attractive with it, it cannot be ''our'' fault that we remain single, despite being pestered by all those horrendous losers and ugly guys who just haven't got the message yet. There just aren't any suitable men out there...
* Disasters that could wipe out the world or at least humanity get a huge amount of coverage from edutainment networks. Most sensible people agree that it's going to happen someday. TV experts keep stressing that 'someday' includes ''tomorrow''.
* There is always some "teen craze" that is being hyped by the news media. Rainbow parties, bracelets telling what sex acts you've done, vodka gummy bears, vodka tampons, etc. Almost all of them are not as common as the news media would have you believe. If anything, [[DoNotDoThisCoolThing the news just makes teens want to try it]].
** In the case of Rainbow parties, no one actually did them. If there had been a few cases, then it was because they got the idea when the news claimed that everyone was doing it (a claim that was based on one story in a book).
** In the case of sex bracelets, as [[https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sex-bracelets/ this]] {{Website/Snopes}} article explains, most adults don't actually think that girls are exchanging sexual favors for snapped bands (the article goes on to describe similar rumors, dating from UsefulNotes/TheFifties to UsefulNotes/TheSeventies, involving beer cans). However, unlike previous rumors, which involved high schoolers, the sex bracelet rumor involves middle- and grade school kids, as young as eight years old. Thus, the real problem adults have is that this rumor results in early child sexualization, the idea of kids that young hearing this rumor and thinking about themselves and their peers in sexual terms.
* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three West Memphis Three]] fiasco is one particularly disgusting example of how the media and rumors can cause innocent people to go to jail. After three young children were murdered, rumors spread out that the crime was part of a [[EveryoneIsSatanInHell Satanic ritual]]. As soon as a teenager with a passing interest in the occult was linked to the case, his acquaintances were dragged into the mess and the three were blamed with no questions asked. The whole town was so worked up over all the "Satanist conspiracy" claims that the conviction of the boys was a slam dunk, even though the only good evidence was their confession — and with recent discoveries, even ''that'' may have been coerced.
* The mass panic over the [[http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/untreaty.asp U.N. Small Arms Trade treaty]] suggested that U.N. troops or the [[StateSec Department of Homeland Security]] would ''personally come to your house and take your guns away'', despite the U.N. not having any real power, America being a superpower that can ignore the U.N. if it wants, U.S. law specifically stating that our Constitution overrules any treaties, ''the Treaty itself'' explicitly saying (in effect) "None of this infringes on gun rights that may or may not be enshrined in any country's constitution or laws," and the Treaty ''not even being about private firearm ownership'', but rather international arms trade: The provisions amount to "Every country has to have records regulations. This to ensure that gun manufacturers have to make sure that whoever's buying their guns won't sell them to rebels, rogue states, organized crime, and other international bad guys." As a happy bonus for American gun retailers, sales ironically went up, as they often do whenever there is a threat (real or otherwise) to 2nd Amendment rights.
** It is joked that a Democrat in the White House is the gun seller's best friend, as his existence ensures heightened demand for guns.
*** Which then becomes a SelfFulfillingProphecy when gun owners buy up entire ammunition inventories out of fear that they're going to be banned, thereby causing the very shortages/outages they're afraid of.
* In [[{{UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom}} the United Kingdom]], a ''major'' CriticalResearchFailure happened: the UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers confused {{Troll}}s with cyber-abusers, and both are '''very different'''. A {{Troll}} is a user that says "I like Liverpool F.C.", perhaps in a somewhat inflammatory way, on a Manchester United forum or makes terrible Website/YouTube videos articulating opinions they may not even actually hold in an idiotic fashion, a cyber-abuser is someone who writes hateful things towards specific people or protected groups. The two are '''not''' connected, but the media always forget this. It doesn't help that abusers like to claim they're just trolls, even when issuing death threats.
* The Weather Channel is notorious for this:
** Ever since '''SNOWPOCALYPSE''' (the moniker given to the unusually harsh winter in the US in 2010), The Weather Channel has been naming winter storms like hurricanes and giving them almost as much weight in their reports. It's no longer enough to just say, "Heavy snow will be coming through over the next couple days." Now it's, "[[http://www.weather.com/news/weather-winter/winter-storm-gandolf-20130109 WINTER STORM GANDOLF]]!!" They seem to have pop culture and mythological naming conventions ([[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan Khan]], [[WesternAnimation/FindingNemo Nemo]], Athena, etc.), which only makes it that much harder to take seriously. The government-run National Weather Service (The Weather Channel is privately-owned) pointedly refuses to use those names.
** However, the NWS has gotten criticism with earlier and earlier naming of Tropical Storms, with some being named even in the Tropical Depression stage. This has lead to accusations of sensationalism.
** The Weather Channel was wildly mocked for its coverage of Hurricane Florence, especially by Carolinians amused by the media overhyping the storm's danger. It had downgraded to Category 1 by the time it reached shore, and while flooding was a legit concern and thousands lost power, the wind wasn't nearly as bad as predicted. This didn't stop reporters from making it look like they had to brace themselves against severe gusts...''while people in the background casually walked by.''
* Homophobia and transphobia carry shades of this [[HeteronormativeCrusader when they are used as "culture war" issues]]. Specifically, the AllGaysArePedophiles canard or "guys in dresses in girls bathrooms" being paired with PaedoHunt are very nasty variants, or AllGaysArePromiscuous being used to start a moral panic about promiscuity (never mind that heterosexuals can be just as promiscuous).
* Acephobia and arophobia often comes in three flavors:
** Moral panic about the ending of the human race if people don't want to procreate (which is also trotted out against any sort of sexual activities that doesn't involve procreation, or allosexual people who chose not to have children for any reason).
** Accusations of being sick/twisted/wrong because [[EverybodyHasLotsOfSex sex is allegedly part of human nature]], romantic love is a necessary and must always be accompanied with sex. ("You must find a partner who will love you and have sex with them, even when you don't want to, because that would make your partner happy!")
** Accusations that ace and aro people are privileged because they can pass as straight, so they're not really oppressed and are stealing valuable resources meant for the rest of the LGBT+ community. Never mind the fact that asexuality and aromanticism is considered part of the community, this last attitude is distressingly common in LGBT+ spaces, when they acknowledge ace and aro people at all.[[note]]Some people argue that the A in the LGBTQIA+ acronym stands for Ally in a bid to delegitimize ace and aro folks from the spectrum.[[/note]]
* As more people are embracing their identity distinct from the cisgender heterosexual norm, the moral panic over people identifying as allegedly ridiculous things (most commonly in the form of retorts somewhere along the line of "What next? I identify as an attack helicopter, then!") has been steadily increasing, with the implication that society is decaying.
* During the 2012 election, many believed that the Republicans wanted to ban tampons, based on a satirical article on the Freewood Post.
* Millennials have become a popular media target for inducing panic, especially when it comes to discussions about them in the workplace. From the way the media talks, you'd think that anybody under the age of 35 is a self-centered, basement-dwelling text-aholic. In reality, such stereotypes (at least, to the extremes by which the media depicts them) apply to a ''very'' small number of millennials.
** There's also the occasional tabloid article accusing millennials of sabotaging the economy by not spending money on diamonds, new cars, houses, and the like.
* The way a lot of modern news coverage is skewed to AccentuateTheNegative and sometimes outright revel in You Can Panic Now in all but name, has become so pervasive ever since the 20th century, that psychologists and media experts were forced to coin a new, now rather common condition: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_world_syndrome Mean World Syndrome]] (term coined by George Gerbner). This is a psychological condition affecting viewers who take news coverage focusing on tragic, horrible or depressing events ''[[SeriousBusiness a bit too seriously]]''. This results in the viewer adopting a chronic type of MoodDissonance, where [[YourMindMakesItReal he will convince himself]] that the world as a whole is a [[CrapsackWorld terrible, awful place]] where evil and tragedies are omnipresent, and where [[TheEeyore there's no hope]] or that there is [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids hope only for non-compassionate cynics that doubt everything]]. Some scholars studying media and politics have been openly critical of Mean World Syndrome and the "culture of fear" it tends to promote. One example of these critics is Creator/AdamCurtis, who is rather outspoken about the issue in several of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOq1vQIt4UU his short documentaries]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae6vZE-gsAg on the topic]], in which he often mocks various media's love for negativism as hypocritical, or even a display of self-righteous false heroism (mainly due to equating negativistic, sensationalist coverage with proper investigative journalism). As Curtis points out in one of these documentaries, while the media once uncovered and decried paranoid or ConspiracyTheorist thinking among politicians and celebrities, with the growth of confidence and power of news media, some "media experts" have themselves become obsessed with spreading paranoid or irrational fears among the viewers, while pretending that said fears and moral panics are well-founded. Essentially, he does a WhatTheHellHero call out towards declining media standards and the increasing similarities between conventional and mainstream paranoid thinkers.
* Any attempt to market renewable energy will be contested by at least one outraged skeptic who believes that fossil fuels are the lifeblood of their respective nation's economy.
** Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has shown a clear disdain towards wind turbines. In his words, their biggest crimes are that they're noisy and ugly and one could get headaches if they stare at them too long. Satirical news site ''TheShovel'' got [[http://www.theshovel.com.au/2015/06/18/abbott-announces-compromise-to-move-wind-turbines-inside/ some]] [[http://www.theshovel.com.au/2015/07/09/stringent-conditions-will-minimise-risk-of-unsightly-wind-turbines-at-new-open-cut-mine-greg-hunt-says/ laughs]] out of these claims.
* British newspaper ''The Mirror'' [[CriticalResearchFailure failed to do their research]] on ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' and turned it into a PaedoHunt, as [[http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/paedophiles-using-online-computer-games-10233554 this article shows]]. However, most child abuse is carried out by someone who the victim knows, rather than [[TheSpook a mysterious stranger, like the article purports]]. The article's writers were probably [[ScheduleSlip trying to get it published quickly]]. Not to mention an image subtitled as "Minecraft" clearly depicted ''VideoGame/MinecraftStoryMode'', suggesting they did not realize that [[CriticalResearchFailure these are two different games.]] To be clear, ''Story Mode'' is actually a Telltale series based off the game, which has no multiplayer feature at all.
* In the weeks leading up to the release of ''Film/Joker2019'', several clickbait sites posted accusations of romanticising [[AngryWhiteMan disgruntled straight white men]] who go on killing sprees for petty reasons and blame it on vaguely-defined mental illnesses. It got so bad some cinemas had to enlist in armed guards to maintain peace. Ironically, the first three people the Joker kills ''were'' straight white men with entitlement issues whom the Gotham media romanticised.
* Several media outlets treated the {{UsefulNotes/COVID}} pandemic as being the end of civilization as we know it, to the point where the World Health Organization declared the outbreak an "infodemic". There were also similar cases in previous outbreaks involving ebola, SARS, the bird flu, and so on.
* In early 2020, the government of Virginia proposed numerous gun-control laws and bans that got the attention of numerous gun-rights groups. January 20th saw a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_VCDL_Lobby_Day large but otherwise peaceful protest of armed gun owners rallying at the state capitol.]] The governor feared this would start a violent uprising and increased police presence and declared a "state of emergency". News media caught wind of this and claimed this protest would be similar to the violent outbreak in Charlottesville and accused the protesters of being far-right white nationalists (despite the fact that black and LGBT civil-rights groups were also present in the rally). The protest ended peacefully and only one arrest was made because a protester refused to remove her mask but she was later released.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH1Z6Y3feYA There was roughly one event]] a ''week'' in 2020 that qualifies. Like Murder Hornets.
[[/folder]]

* In ''Fim/AirplaneIItheSequel'', after the passengers are told the plane is off-course and [[spoiler: they're out of coffee]], they panic. A sign lights up saying "DON'T PANIC", which ten shorts out and changes to read "OKAY, PANIC".

* In Creator/RobertAsprin's humorous fantasy novel ''[[Literature/MythAdventures Myth Conception]]'', as more and more horrible details come pouring in concerning the supposedly cushy job they've finagled, Aahz finally breaks down and invokes this trope with his apprentice Skeeve.

* The outdoor humorist Creator/PatrickMcManus wrote on more than one occasion about the proper way to panic upon discovering you are hopelessly lost in the woods. He even invented the Modified Stationary Panic, which is standing firmly in place while you scream and jump up and down. This avoids the danger of getting even ''more'' lost or seriously injured if you go with the more traditional "running-blindly" panic.

* In ''Fim/Airplane2'', after the passengers are told the plane is off-course and [[spoiler: they're out of coffee]], they panic. A sign lights up saying "DON'T PANIC", which ten whorts out and changes to read "OKAY, PANIC".

[[folder:Films -- Animantion]]

If children are in danger, then expect AdultFear. If it's about new technology, then it's probably because ScienceIsBad. If it's a new minority or subculture, then lock the doors and hide your daughters -- it's the SubcultureOfTheWeek! Expecting volcanic eruptions in the midwest? Then it's likely a DisasterMovie. New diseases or health issues like high cholesterol and cancerous artificial sweetener? Then it's probably a ''Hallmark Channel'' MadeForTVMovie about a [[ThePollyanna Pollyanna]] and her family going through something truly {{Glurge}}-y.

* British newspaper ''The Mirror'' [[CriticalResearchFailure failed to do their research]] on ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' and turned it into a PaedoHunt, as [[http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/paedophiles-using-online-computer-games-10233554 this article shows]]. However, most [[AdultFear child abuse is carried out by someone who the victim knows]], rather than [[TheSpook a mysterious stranger, like the article purports]]. The article's writers were probably [[ScheduleSlip trying to get it published quickly]]. Not to mention an image subtitled as "Minecraft" clearly depicted ''VideoGame/MinecraftStoryMode'', suggesting they did not realize that [[CriticalResearchFailure these are two different games.]] To be clear, ''Story Mode'' is actually a Telltale series based off the game, which has no multiplayer feature at all.

See also: AxesAtSchool, DisasterMovie, {{Glurge}}, NewMediaAreEvil, PaedoHunt, RippedFromTheHeadlines, SubcultureOfTheWeek, WesternTerrorists.

* British newspaper ''The Mirror'' [[CriticalResearchFailure failed to do their research]] on ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' and turned it into a PaedoHunt, as [[http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/paedophiles-using-online-computer-games-10233554 this article shows]]. However, most [[AdultFear child abuse is carried out by someone who the victim knows]], rather than [[TheSpook a mysterious stranger, like the article purports]]. The article's writers were probably [[ScheduleSlip trying to get it published quickly]]. Not to mention an image subtitled as "Minecraft" clearly depicted {{VideoGame/Minecraft Story Mode}}, suggesting they did not realize that [[CriticalResearchFailure these are two different games.]] To be clear, Story Mode is actually a Telltale series based off the game, which has no multiplayer feature at all.