From the "Bowling for Columbine" site (which, by the way, is an excellent film, truly deserving of the Oscar it won), is this extract of the book "The Culture of Fear", mentioned and quoted from in the film. The extract is about how the media distort people's fears irrationally by covering fearful events (true or otherwise, common or otherwise) in an irrational way. It's highly thoughtful and thought-provoking, and well worth a read.