In an AP article on May 8, people were quoted as accusing the government of overreacting to the recent H1N1 outbreak. While it is a blessing that the virus was not as deadly as originally feared, it is disturbing that people are more concerned with the disruption of their daily routine than the potential for damage. See comments on this obsession with personal comfort at http://www.redroom.com/blog/charles-a-ray/are-we-becoming-a-nation-of-whiners
You’re right about the media. Unfortunately, too much of the media is about ratings and entertainment rather than informing and education.
Pandemic and disease follows a news cycle that is pretty predictable. It is sort of like Gartner’s hype cycle for IT technologies. This article describes the cycle for a turn of the last century outbreak of “parrot fever.” http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_lepore