A brief history of moral panics

An interesting thesis from Momus: "Only a medium which is seen as 'realistic' can inspire moral panics -- in other words, that moral panics correlate to the perceived power of a medium to represent." He then proceeds to go through panics in television, video, music and video games, making a pretty good case for his thesis that moral panic doesn't come along until the medium is a real "threat" for the masses. I'll let Momus wrap it up: "Ambitious young media turks take note -- don't waste your time dabbling with Daddy's toxins. No moral panic, no credibility. Not inappropriate? Not appropriate."