Tune out cable news and turn away fear

[Commentary] Commercial television news is hammering "the land of the brave" with scare tactics as never before.

I believe the motivation is not to make us safer. It's to boost ratings to keep advertisers satisfied and turn a profit. 24/7 news channels have to amp up the shrillness to make recycled news exciting enough to watch. The unhappy consequence: We end up being afraid of things we shouldn't be — and ignoring things that actually do threaten our society, such as climate change and the growing gap between rich and poor.

[Rick Steves writes travel guidebooks and hosts the public television series "Rick Steves' Europe."]