In recent years the fear associated with terror and terrorism has been on the rise. The question surrounding this fear is, is the fear real or is it a figment of our imagination blown out of proportion? Since September 11, 2001 terrorism and the potential for terrorism has been blasted relentlessly on television and in our newspaper. The media chooses which events to over publicize or not to publicize based on the amount of fear that can be generated. This type of incident was reflected in the December 2009 Northwest Airlines bomb and Eurostar breakdown. December 25, 2009 a 23 year old Nigerian man named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, boards a plane from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Amsterdam, Netherlands to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The flight was normal until 20 minutes before the flight was schedule to land, when the 23 year old man lit himself on fire. Passengers heard a loud pop as if a fire cracker had been set off. A passenger aboard the airline along with flight staff subdued the man immediately after the fire had been started. When the attempted to subdue the Nigerian man on fire, his first instinct was to search the man for explosive. After the flight was landed safely the Nigerian man was arrested. After being search a bomb was found in the underwear of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. After careful analysis by specialist, it was found that the underwear bomb was similar to the al-Qaida shoe bombing plot in late 2001 (Price, 2009). The bombing event of December 25 was publicized on almost every channel on American television. Ever hour for the next few days was dedicated to the incident. It was like September 11, 2001 all over again, except this time no one was hurt. The media attack the government for not doing enough to protect the American people. The United States government precious ‘No-fly list’ fails to stop a real terrorist. Before the December 25th attempted bombing, 6 Eurostar trains broke down in the Eurotunnel trapping over 2,000 travelers 250 feet below the English Channel. The passengers had no light, air-condition, food, water or bathrooms. The conductors of the trains lost communication with the control towers. Everyone was trap and there were no evacuation plans for 16 hours. With 2,000 lives at risk the incident barely made the news (Stevens, 2009). The question now is why do some events like the attempted bombing of the Northwest Airlines get played over and over in the media, while other events like the Eurostar breakdown is barely mentioned. The answer to this question is still yet to be determined by there are some theories. Fear, the fear of the unknown, the fear push by the government, the fear the bush administration used to control the American people. From color coded alert levels to stocking up on duck tape. When it comes to al-Qaida, terrorism and the United States there is no room for error. The great fear associated with the terrorist group is what prompts the media to over publicize incidents associated with them. Since the incident with the Eurostar train break down was found to be related to the weather there was no need to publicize it as much. Media ratings are associated with excitement, fear brews excitement.