Speaking of making the world seem worse than it is, one murder every forty minutes means that in 2011, 13,140 people were murdered in the United States out of over 311 million people. Your average U.S. citizen would have had less than a 0.0043% chance of being murdered in 2011, without even taking into account additional information such as demographics and behavior which might affect an individual's chances of being killed this way.

By the way, these statistics only pertain to the United States; not the world as a whole. I suspect that the numbers would be a bit different if they factored in other parts of the world as well.

The world is fine it's the people who live in it that is the problem.

The MEDIA'S the problem.

Mainstream media is the problem. It always exaggerates problems or even makes them up. What you see on TV is just a movie with actors.

I agree with this statement above all else. stupid people do stupid things, bad people do bad things, I 'm still looking for what good people do, so far nothing.

How many of you like to gossip? A lot I bet, that is what today's media is like, to me. A bunch of "muck-rakers". Look up the term. Everyone, in my opinion, seems more focussed on the bad things happening to others in order to make themselves feel better. It is disgusting. How many stories do you hear' " today, little Johnny got an A on his math test.. Joe helped a little old woman across the street today... Beth cooked a delicious apple pie today at the ffood kitchen." None. Know why? Because it makes you feel like shit that you didn't do so well, that you are not as good as so and so, that you didn't help out... it feels like bragging. So in retrospect, maybe the media knows it is better to report on the bad to make you feel good, than to report on the good, to make you feel bad.... it all depends on how "people" portray it and how "people" infer it

Bad things Happen, so do good things... Bad things sell more papers or periodicals

The world has always been more or less the same, there has always been war, plague, murder, famine, and so on happening every single day the only difference is the when and where.

It's not the media, it's the people. It's the people's fault why journalism has become a travesty.

World isn't as bad a place as you'd think. Experience it yourself, you be the judge.

The world is much better than it used to be. Wars are safer for troops, violent crimes have been on the decline, detroit isn't a festering stink hole anymore (supposedly), etc etc.

The world will go on, much as it has over the past few thousand milenia, don't you worry. If it's gonna end, you'll never see it coming anyways.

WHAT MEDIA? I never watch it so therefore it doesn't exist!

The only reason the media and news reports on so much is because of the ability to report right then and there, whereas 70 years ago, you'd have to wait for the few reporters to get back to the local news station to report everything, which was usually only big things, not small accidents.

"The world....is it as bad as the media makes it seem?"

No, it's worse. The world is very cruel, unfair, and unforgiving.

They will have you believe they are pluralsit, that they give people what the people want. The funny thing they are the ones who tell people what they want. The reason for this is to keep people living in fear and there are several reasons why they want that, a couple are: people who are afraid are easier to control because they are more open to suggestion because when you are afraid you are unable to think rationally (people in general), people consume more when they are afraid because they want distractions from negative thoughts. The other ironic thing is that it actually does make the world worse because all this bad news that gets reported makes it seem normal for bad things to happen and plants ideas into peoples minds.

Nah, the media just shows the bad things cause that's what's the most interesting and the most contributing to ratings. The world ain't nearly as bad as it seems, but normal shit isn't cool enough to put on TV.

But when things go bad... now that's something to talk about.

This is so exact. The media do operate psychologically by making people fear constantly, even fears of not being fashionable or having the latest items. "fear makes the wolf look bigger" I think this fits perfectly for people's outlook in general... maybe not for the consumerism, but definitely for restricting them from taking action themselves when it comes to something happening, this way we're all confined to the corners of our house, filled with items and tv channels that have us believe we are well off or lucky to have access to when they're just useless attachments making you diverge from real importance and your real self. It also divides us greatly by turning us against each other in any way possible while the real enemy watches it happen. mainstream media is a puppet show, I don't need to be told what to think or how to behave, all I need is the truth.

First, bad news gets ratings, everyone knows that. Second, in a world of mass communication you know about that earthquake in the middle of china, or tidal wave in Sumatra, etc. within hours where as not many years ago the news would reach the masses(especially those in other countries) weeks, months, or even years after the event. Its not that things are getting worse, its just that now everyone knows about it all.