John Stossel calls the media, part of the Fear Industrial Complex, because they profit from scaring us to death.
Of course, they feature abducted children, shark attacks, nightmare scenarios about global warming because they are good stories and ratings soar. Reporters and writers were likely English majors, not math majors and they are clueless when it comes to statistics assessing risk.. He calls them "statistically illiterate."
We should Worry About the Right Things, Stossel says.
Ordinary flu kills 36,000 people a year in the USA
Bird flu has killed 0.
Swimming pools are more dangerous to children than guns.
A child is 100 times more likely to die in a swimming pool than in a gun accident.
Cars are the most dangerous things around. About 36,500 were killed in car accidents last year, about 100/day.
So take our reporting with heavy skepticism. Ignore us when we hyperventilate about mad cow disease and the danger of asbestos hidden behind a wall.
Instead, worry about what's worth worrying about: driving, acting reckless, smoking cigarettes, drinking too much, and eating too much.