ABSTRACT
Did the extra cup of coffee or the TV news cause my anxiety? Or should I attribute my uneasiness to the news headlines blaring over my car radio as I brake to a stop on a ten-lane Los Angeles freeway? The media will report any “news” that might produce anxiety in the reader, listener, or viewer. Like my fellow sufferers from exposure to untold dangers and impending calamities, I look for redress in shopping (even if only for Prozac). I don’t want to sound like a paranoid schizophrenic, but I sometimes suspect that the mass media intend their news as a means to induce shopping behavior. Just because of who pays the bills for the news!
