A worrying trend has emerged in American media over the last twenty years. More and more, televised news and far left- or right-leaning print news sources are using fear tactics, playing on the emotion of their consumers to build ratings. Political commentators on both sides of the aisle are pitting their audience against their political opponents to create a stronger follower base. 

The Tucker Carlson Tonight show is a prime example of using political fear-mongering tactics to maintain a massive devoted base. His show remains the most popular show on cable with an average of 3.6 million Americans watching it nightly. He uses the concept of an opposing ‘they’ in reference to Democrats, elite businessmen, leftist media and more to give his viewers someone to blame for their problems. He creates a scapegoat for them, validating their concerns. 

Much of Carlson’s content centers on the fear of a changing America in which white men lose power because of liberal manipulation. One of his segments in particular references President Biden’s commitment to equity across government branches saying “equity is racist” and “….bigotry, prejudice, and hatred that’s what equity is” because the word is used to justify excluding white people from POC spaces.

He has also been known to call white supremacy a hoax, claiming it is a “conspiracy theory to divide the country.”

Carlson’s tactics are not uncommon on Fox News, the leading conservative news outlet. Their latest attempt at fear-mongering has to do with linking public criticism of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade to over-inflated left-wing terrorism. 

The language they use makes all the difference. A recent opinion segment called peaceful pro-choice protests in response to the decision “politics by thuggery.” In the past, they published an article on the subject warning about Antifa-led riots and “Black Lives Matter-inspired left-wing riots and vandalism.”

However, conservative media talking-heads are not the only ones using emotionally charged language to build their base. While liberal media may be more politically correct, they are not innocent when it comes to fear tactics. The most concerning thing about media considered “far-left,” such as MSNBC or the New York Times, is that their language plays right into the hands of their conservative counterparts.

An interactive article published on April 30 by the New York Times aimed to point out Carlson’s use of ‘they’ and ‘you’ to create a divisive culture in his show by highlighting these words in their analysis. At first they seem to make a great point about Carlson’s apocalyptic language, but as the audio-visual work continues it begins to feel defensive. 

The feeling it inspires is reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984 media control. If you were to look at it from the perspective of a frequent Tucker Carlson Tonight viewer, it would be easy to twist it into proving exactly what Carlson has been saying. The tone shifts from informative to critical, as if they might be trying to convince viewers the idea of a liberal, media-fueled, elite that wants to take the rights of white men is completely crazy, mocking believers and deeming it “dangerous propaganda.” 

This is not the only time the New York Times has used fear tactics to inspire reader engagement. Recently they published an article titled “Elon Musk says he would ‘reverse the permanent ban’ of Donald Trump on Twitter” using a lot of pessimistic languages to describe the changes he would bring. 

“Mr. Musk’s remarks were a preview of the kinds of sweeping changes he might make at Twitter…” including “…uncorking a political firestorm.”

This kind of word choice in the technology section of a credible newspaper demonstrates how thoroughly embedded fear tactics are in the media. If authors can scare their audience into an opinion on Musk, they will spread the word and keep coming back for more information. They are essentially arming their readers with the tools to debate the supporters of Musk and Trump they disagree with.

This is not to say that the New York Times is part of a grand leftist scheme, but the language seeks to instill fear in its liberal readers. By creating this “crazy” fanbase for liberal readers to criticize, the New York Times draws in more subscribers who want to continue reading articles that validate their beliefs and criticisms about conservative media and its consumers.

These news sources are taking advantage of their viewers’ fear of the “other” to generate views, using divisive language meant to make people fear the direction the country is headed. Whether that’s Fox News’ fanbase fearing the fall of white male privilege, or the New York Times readers fearing the propaganda of Carlson’s show, these well-established media outlets are using their opinion sections to spread fiction-based fear over fact-based beliefs.