Analysis of Music´s Deadly Influence by CWA (Concerned Women for America)

The CWA (or Concerned Women for America) released an article named "Music's Deadly Influence" in August 3, 1999. The article was released when the music industry would be at a peak in its involvement within society. The TV had channels for music, CD players and various walkmans were top selling, and music could be acquired anywhere including the internet. The intention of this article was to serve as a general warning to parents and various other authority figures about the music industry and its effect on youth. The article was released under the CWA, which is an organization founded on "action and prayer" by Beverly LaHaye, and possesses a reputation in primarily right-wing views in the news and in political issues . This article fails in establishing a problem with media and youth, and uses adverse techniques that cause the article lose its credibility to its issue, from an assessment of the content of this article and its purpose.

The CWA approaches the moral panic in unobjective standpoint, and constructs a bigger problem and exaggerated view of the situation. The problem is assembled similar to a disease, in which its magnitude and direction seem to be all encompassing and highly dangerous. It is mentioned that the article "does not...propose that popular music is the sole cause of violence, but...demonstrate[s] how it contributes to destructive and violent behavior" and includes other statements, such as that the author of the document Mr. Thomas L. Jippling "doesn't cast a blanket statement over all popular music, but...does highlight the prevalence" . These statements are made in the article, but in contrast cover an 18-page document that serves as a full length handbook to eliminating a problem that is quite extensive....

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..., turned up nothing conclusive. The CWA's claims of music's great hold on youth and inciting "drug use" and "suicide" fails to contribute other factors that are individual to a person. For example, "a shooter, Lee Marlvo, [who supposedly had a history with videogames that contributed to his violent nature], but it was failed to be acknowledged that he had "a history of criminal activity and antisocial [behavior]" . Olson points out in her article that the connections of these factors are vague like the CWA's article. Moral panics have no clear established link, and the CWA's article falls into the typical moral panic which has come and gone throughout the years, in which it wants to create a connection that does not exist and brings a false cloud of fear to the public and tries to result the "problem" in great solutions, returns to tradition, and have control over.