Splicetoday

Pop Culture
Jun 12, 2008, 11:13AM

Media Invents Phantom Epidemic, Concerning Misled Parents

"Drunkorexia" is the latest crisis sweeping through our nation's young people that doesn't actually exist. One college paper is tired of the media proclaiming social decline based on the fringe behaviors of a few kids.

"Drunkorexia," a term coined by the media to describe habitually starving oneself or vomiting to offset the calories ingested by drinking, has been pounced on by mainstream media outlets such as The Today Show and the New York Times as yet another symptom of today's troubled youth.

This newest epidemic is a prime example of the media creating a topic and then sensationalizing it to attract an audience via moral panic. Recall other so-called social ills conjured by the media in recent years, like the infamous "rainbow party" scare. Media outlets across the nation warned of parties in which young women would supposedly apply different colored lipsticks and shamelessly perform oral sex on various males, who competed to rack up as many colors as possible.

What these topics have in common is that they were touted by the media as indicators of the recklessness and danger that supposedly define contemporary youth - specifically girls - with no scientific or statistical bases.

What these topics have in common is that they were touted by the media as indicators of the recklessness and danger that supposedly define contemporary youth - specifically girls - with no scientific or statistical bases.

Discussion
  • This is one of the best articles to appear on "The Feed" in weeks. The writer is completely correct that the media sensationalizes any trend, based on small anecdotal evidence, to whip up readers and viewers. What the writer doesn't say, however, is that the media, which is heavily populated by Baby Boomers with teenage and college-age children, are (typically self-absorbed), playing on their own fears. If you believed the media, every person under 25 is overweight, promiscuous and a binge drinker.

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  • And you'd think bloggers are quietly dying off because of the job's stress.

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  • Good one. That was one of most ridiculous stories the Times has run all year, quite a feat considering all the candidates.

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