How do neoconservatives criticize popular culture and mass media?

Neoconservatives place significant emphasis on cultural matters and mass media, arguing that these outlets reflect and shape a society's values. They contend that Western society has become amoral and degenerate, a crisis they believe is exacerbated by the influence of popular music, film, television, and the Internet.1

Specifically, neoconservatives criticize the prevalence of violent and sexually explicit content in media, as well as music filled with obscenities. They argue that these cultural products have lost the capacity to disgust, leading to a phenomenon described by Daniel Patrick Moynihan as "defining deviancy down," where behaviors once considered shameful are now normalized.1

This cultural degradation is viewed as a threat to Western civilization, with some neoconservatives tracing the roots of this crisis to the Enlightenment or the 1960s counterculture, which challenged traditional authority and values. Furthermore, they argue that a decline in the influence of religion leaves individuals prone to seeking fulfillment in "mindless entertainment," which they believe undermines the social cohesion typically provided by religious and traditional institutions.1