PÁNICOS MORALES Y MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN EN EL ECUADOR

Abstract

The current document shows the different definitions and concepts related to moral panics and mass media. It describes the present theories regarding this phenomenon, their validity, and the manner in which moral panics affect society, not only concerning the type of information that reaches homes and the individual short term reaction, but the way they impact in the collectivity on the long run, whether it is with the social expectation of having laws modified by the Judicial system or the paranoia and rejection sentiment towards certain social groups due to the fact that they perceived as folk demons. This work has been developed through a qualitative methodology by the usage of relevant bibliographic sources and there is also a short analysis of two moral panics that occurred in Ecuador: the dramatization of the War of the Worlds and the Diana Carolina case in the city of Ibarra.