News Media in War Culture

Abstract: Fear has found its latest instrument in the news media. The discourse of fear in news presentations produces gasping meanings, which we can compellingly indulge in. Fear not just being entertaining, but one of the ways in which we relate to reality, is used as a protection mechanism of our status quo. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the extent to which Fox News tends to use, and further reproduce, the fear discourse to form identities and meaning. The method utilized in this thesis is frame analysis, which is a form of discourse analysis. The primary results indicate that Fox News undeniably uses the fear discourse, for entertainment and the proliferation of the status quo - meaning system. In addition, Fox News applies fear blatantly in the news presentations, as acts of courage and virtuous loyalty to reporting. Key words: Fear, Frame analysis, Meaning, News media, Infotainment.