Photos of gas prices

When journalists want to illustrate an economic hardship, they often select photos of the worst-case scenario. In telling the story of how bad things are, they inadvertently make it seem worse.

Think about the toilet paper shortage at the beginning of the pandemic. Yes, store shelves were routinely empty. But experts argue that repeatedly showing the images of empty shelves caused people to perceive the shortages as worse than they actually were, which in turn prompted hoarding.

There's a related problem when gasoline prices spike. News organizations often show images of the gas stations with the highest prices in the country, usually in California, which fuels a perception that gas costs that much everywhere. Savvy news consumers sometimes point this out, accusing the journalists of sensationalizing the problem.

A reader noticed that a recent