Print media, such as newspapers and magazines, are a better source of information than are broadcast media. Where commercial news media constitute the dominant source of information, public perception of risk does not reflect actual risk. A massive outbreak of cholera will be covered more extensively by the news media than will the occurrence of a rarer but less serious disease. Events over which people feel they have no control are generally perceived as more dangerous than those which people feel they can avert or avoid.
The commercial news media emphasize exceptional events such as airplane crashes at the expense of those such as automobile accidents, which occur far more frequently and represent a far greater risk to the public. Yet the public tends to interpret the degree of emphasis the news media give to these occurrences as indicating the degree of risk they represent.
If the statements above are true, which one of the following conclusions is most strongly supported by them?