Fox, MSNBC, The New York Times... News, in all its formats, dominates our lives. It's where we get information about what's happening in the world. When we wake up in the morning, it is what we leave to collect from our homes; what we turn on the TV for. We read it online, in paper and on TV. It's an inevitable part of life. The news that the media provides us... very often is anything but promising. Stories of city shootings or children drowning in swimming pools or terrorist attacks; sometimes, stories that didn't even happen, stories labeled with a big "if"; these stories have a great effect on our lives because of the fear they impose on our daily activities. We see these stories and assume that life is like this; a dangerous world where one wrong turn will get you killed. In America, as technology advances and culture adapts to an ever-changing society, one element, the element of fear, is blown completely out of proportion; abused and manipulated by mainstream media and major news networks to boost ratings and attract viewers. However, the media is not aware of the disastrous effects on the American people. Fear, in this dosage, can be deadly. It is true that the world the media shows us is not exactly reality. The elements are exaggerated; distorted facts and dramatized threats. Life is shown as hyperbole; everything exaggerated. From body image to potential threats in the nation, from the supposed fallout the nation finds itself in to the reality of the situation, news networks have a tendency to be blown out of proportion. While, not necessarily present in news networks, other forms of media, such as magazines, commercials and websites, illustrate a body image that is nowhere near reality. It is a very present danger in people... middle of paper... they normally don't believe it unless we are influenced by another person. But we can still choose not to believe it, by taking action or even simply researching further the things we are told in the media to find out what is truly fact and what is simply fiction. Works Cited Acosta, Judith. "Fear and the media". I am the medicine. OpedNews.com, October 2006. Web. October 26, 2011. Becker, Gavin De. “Media Fear Tactics.” Gavin De Becker & Associates. Gavin De Becker & Associates, Inc., July 2010. Web. October 26, 2011. Galt, John. “Cultivation Theory and Fear in the Media, page 2 of 8.” Associated content from Yahoo! - Associatedcontent.com. Yahoo!, October 2, 2007. Web. October 26, 2011. Meter, Mallory, and Jacob Minnaugh. “Be afraid, America. Be very afraid: the effect of negative media «Neuroanthropology». Neuroanthropology. Scribd.com, April 25, 2010. Web. October 26. 2011.