It is horrendous that terrorists murdered more than 30 people and injured hundreds in Brussels, Belgium. It’s a real story that requires good journalism to get to root cause of such attacks, and it requires objective analysis to understand the genesis of these types of events. Unfortunately, coverage of the event has been excessive—and dangerous.

Americans get a disparate view of ISIS-inspired terrorism. The excessive coverage would have one believe that ISIS is an existential problem for Europe and by inference, the United States of America. That impression could not be further from the truth.

Worse, the distorted coverage creates the illusion that those working on behalf of ISIS are having a bigger impact on society as a whole than they actually do. That emboldens them. Success breeds more action. More action breeds more success for them, as our hyperventilating media gives an outlet to spread fear—the fear of terrorism that is most impactful in the minds of most.

But there is another issue: Humans around the world are constantly under attack from terrorism. Western media coverage shows a bias in covering them in a comprehensive fashion. It’s that media behavior which creates the illusion that Brussels, Paris, and San Bernardino are unique.

PRI reports the following: