Mountains or Molehills?

There exists a terrific graphic illustration of the global media scares during the past decade, called Mountains Out of Molehills. I originally saw this graphic a couple of months ago, so I don't know updated the H1N1 flu numbers are, but you can see from the image the relative number of stories about the swine flu as well as other media scares (such as avian flu, Y2k, SARS, etc.) in addition to the number of reported deaths related to each scare. All of this information is plotted along a timeline from 2000 to 2009, and the graphic elicits quite an impact on the viewer.

While it's impossible to verify some of the numbers used here, this image got me thinking: should we hold the media to be ethically responsible for some of these public scares? After all, they are the ones who publish these stories time and time again, keeping these topics in the public consciousness. How could any of us NOT be paranoid about the H1N1 virus lately when it is constantly in the news? I find it difficult to ascertain just how worried I should be, if the flu warnings are legit or if they have been blown completely out of proportion.

I think the media is at least partly responsible. I don't think it's fair to lay the whole thing on journalists, because this kind of information originates from scientists, doctors, and other public health officials. But the preponderance of not just unbiased information but fear-based warnings surely warrant some journalistic blame. Stories about H1N1 and the like feed off of each other; the media preys on the worrying public to devour any new information they have to offer. This stuff sells papers, or garners website hits, so it keeps getting published.