Most won't be surprised by this, but it's interesting to see some quantitative data on it. You could argue that the media is actually doing a disservice in that it is not discussing the relevant issues that could help people and its actually promoting fear and terror "What's interesting is that Americans search on Google is a much closer reflection of what kills us than what is presented in the media. One way to think about it is that media outlets may produce content that they think readers are most interested in, but this is not necessarily reflected in our preferences when we look for information ourselves."