The world is coming to an end. This absolutely is going to happen because the talking TV news heads constantly predict the global toilet will soon to be flushed.

The way in which TV news can suddenly (and in pack formation) thrust something from a well-known occurrence into a seemingly end-of-the-world scenario never ceases to amaze.

Troubling issue of the week is the increasing price of gas.

Judging by the manner and tone given to the stories, we all might as well shut off our cars and go jump in the river.

Here&8217;s a snippet from a recent report. Capital letters represent the words on which TV talker put emphasis.

&8220;Gas prices at the station RIGHT BEHIND ME, have gone up FOUR cents since this morning,&8221; the on-location head said, with a sense of dire helplessness in his voice, his head shaking sideways as he finishes his sentence.

&8220;REALLY?&8221; replied the pretty lady back in the studio.

&8220;Yes, we&8217;ve heard from many drivers who say they are driving around looking for stations that have good prices,&8221; he said.

&8220;Let&8217;s hope those people driving around looking for low prices don&8217;t run out in the process,&8221; studio beauty says as if running out of gas would mean sudden death for those crazy people skirting with disaster.

What?

The lead story of the national TV news is concern for Joe Schmo running out of gas?

Insanity.

Don&8217;t get me wrong. Rising gas prices are not something that I enjoy. Gas costs hit everyone and eventually the cost of almost everything that is shipped by petroleum-powered means. Continuing high gas prices affects almost all facets of life.

My concern, however, is that the national media determines what should be on Americans&8217; minds by constantly pounding it home.

Many people who constantly hear that gas prices are going up will rush out and fill up their tanks, when normally they&8217;d drive around on a half a tank for a while.

The result is that the paranoia the media can create can then artificially increase demand for gas, which can drive the price higher.

Constant pointing to any &8220;glass half empty&8221; situation will make people perceive the problem is much worse. That&8217;s especially frustrating when it seems news coverage doesn&8217;t have its priorities correct.

Think back to the countless hours of coverage give to the Natalie Holloway case in Aruba.

Sure, it&8217;s awful. This young, attractive girl with her whole life ahead of her comes up missing &8212; many people presume she&8217;s been killed. But how is her possible death any more important than the thousands of soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan?

Looking at the big picture, how does my having to pay $3 per gallon for gasoline compare to the likelihood that Iran will develop and use a nuclear weapon to attack another country?

The national media seems to jump from one &8220;big story&8221; to the next. Remember when, for probably three or four days, all we heard about was the BTK killer in Kansas?

Somewhere after that, and before the latest in a long line of teacher sex scandals, the story of the week was the mine disasters in West Virginia.

Again, all of them are bad stories, but none of them are world changing &8212; or even nation changing.

Many of the TV news shows are annoying because they don&8217;t bother trying to explain the &8220;why&8221; of big issues, only the &8220;now&8221; and the &8220;obvious.&8221;

Rarely will they explain the underlying problems behind the rising gas prices; they&8217;ll just stand in front of the sign showing the highest price they can find and interview people who (obviously) do not want to pay more for gas.

Until some reason weighs into the coverage, let&8217;s kick back and wait for the world to end. Just turn the channel so you won&8217;t be depressed from watching the TV news when the end arrives.

Kevin Cooper

is associate publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or

kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com

.