Most of us see ourselves in a positive light. We believe we are tolerant, fair-minded and courteous individuals. We are good citizens. We love our kids, pay our taxes, obey the law, and do our civic duties.

But, how do our fellow Americans’s see our collective selves: as frightened, angry, aggressive, insensitive, intolerant of other points of view; preachers of peace and ready for an altercation at any provocation? Is American media driven by fabricated sensationalism that has intentionally manipulated us into becoming a suspicious, terrorized nation, untrusting of our enemies and fearful of our friends?

And how about the rest of the world? How does it see us? Indoctrinated into who and what we are, predicated on our personification in our own home press, has it become inured to our hyperbole? Have we lost international esteem because of American media’s predisposition to sensationalize every story and every event and keep us all living in a culture of fear?

Join veteran journalist Peter McNelly at Einstein’s Circle next Wednesday. for an insider view of what happens when we “go through the looking glass” into the world of television news; a world where ratings are king, and fear is the driving force.