Glasser examines how media coverage has turned issues such as violent rap music, road rage, cyber pornography, date-rape drugs and teen pregnancy into supposed epidemics. In news programs, a combination of hyped-up statistics, vivid examples and melodramatic language make it seem as if the issue du jour is widespread and becoming worse.

             Like the fearmongers, Glassner uses statistics to debunk these supposedly widespread social concerns. For social commentators who rail against "babies having babies," the author points out that fewer than one in 50 teen mothers were under the age of 14. In response to the supposed trend towards increasing violent behavior in schools, Glassner points out that only one in 10 public schools in the country ever experience any serious crime.

             Because the statistics methodology was useful in creating widespread fear, Glassner apparently hopes that bombarding the reader with counter-statistics should have a calming effect. However, while many of Glassner's rationalizations are true, they do not necessarily work to dispel fears. For example, to rebut the fear of drug violence, the author cites statistics showing that drug-related violence disproportionately affects poor minorities, especially young black men. However, why would such a statistic dispel fear among other segments of society? If young black men are disproportionately affected by drug violence, this should be a social concern.

             The strengths of The Culture of Fear, however, lie in the deft analysis Glassner employs to explain how such fears come about. The author places much of the blame on the media and the constant portrayal of "negative presumptions" regarding American citizens and institutions. However, throughout the book, Glassner also dissects how such fears help further vested interests of social elites. For example, the furor over the supposed climate of "political correctness" on college campuses were fanned by "right-wing foundations.