Well, less newspapers and magazines would be bought, less CNN would be watched, for starters. Consider that the Advertisement Industries don’t really want that to happen anytime soon, reduced eyeballs is reduced ad effectiveness is reduced profit. Ideally people would develop the ability to judge risks on their actual merit instead of assuming the media reporting is correct and accurate and not distorted… but people can do this now if they choose to. The poor economy is certainly not simply a product of media created fear. They are actual legit economic problems caused by ill policies and actions in the past and present. Yes, the media makes it out to be bigger and worse than it is (based on what I’ve seen in the media, there’s a crazy outbreak of “Tent City USA” going on across the nation, which while I’m sure some do exist, this ‘outbreak’ is obviously exaggerated), but they do what’s needed to sell issues, and conflict/drama/fear sells. Is it disgusting that they profit off of fear? I think it is, which is why I don’t consume such media.