Promoted by the same means as other fears—and often to the same ends—they afford a comfortable entry point into the fear mongers’ bag of tricks. It becomes easier to recognize how we are bamboozled about serious concerns, having seen the same techniques at work in the promotion of frivolous dangers. Scenarios Substitute for Facts “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it,” said the ultimate master of terror, Alfred Hitchcock. Fear mongers regularly put his wisdom to use by depicting would-be perils as imminent disasters. “They’re all around you, everywhere you drive, waiting to explode,” exclaimed an announcer at the beginning of ABC’s newsmagazine “20/20” in 1996, devoted to what he called ”a growing American danger—road rage.” Hugh Downs, the program’s coanchor, continued the ruse. Eliciting viewers’ everyday experiences, he recast them as portentous. “How many times have you been bullied on the road, honked at or tailed, cursed at by another driver?
