The LA Times ran a story yesterday, attempting to present some ‘straight talk’ about the economic crisis. The article focused largely on the comments of economist Paul Krugman, but Barry Glassner weighed in on the fray.

Barry Glassner, the USC sociologist, wrote “The Culture of Fear” to expose what he said was the media’s tendency to exaggerate the danger of various phenomena, such as road rage and workplace violence. He called TV news “by far the most breathless” in pumping up worries about the economy, but urged print journalists to be cognizant of their power.

“If we do a little thought experiment and imagine that the media suddenly told us everything is about to turn around,” Glassner said, “wouldn’t it seem a lot more likely we would call a broker and buy on the stock market, or make an offer on that house we have been waiting to move on, and so forth?”

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