its the media doing that it does best, reporting on anything bad, and not bringing up the good in anything, the media would rather you hear negative stories than positive ones...
The word you're looking for is "scary". The media will do their best to keep you scared, because if something is scary, your natural impulse it to want to know more about it.
Let me give you an example:
1) "And in the news tonight: It would seem that a hitherto unknown man is roaming the streets
handing out free candy and sodas to passers-by. Stay tuned, as we have more on that story after the commercials"
2) "And in the news tonight: It would seem that a hitherto unknown man is roaming the streets
attacking passers-by with a machete. Stay tuned, as we have more on that story after the commercials"
Which one of those two stories will get people to keep watching?
Hence the fact that we're made to be afraid of EVERYTHING. Case in point, how many of you found the man handing out candy to be scary, when, really, you had absolutely no reason to?