Investigative journalist John Stossel explains the media's shark fixation in his book "Give Me a Break", stating: Instead of putting risks in proportion, we [reporters] hype "interesting" ones. Tom Brokaw, Katie Couric, and countless others called 2001 the "summer of the shark." [...] In truth, there wasn't a remarkable surge in shark attacks in 2001. There were about as many in 1995 and 2000, but 1995 was the year of the O.J. Simpson trial, and 2000 was an election year. The summer of 2001 was a little dull, so reporters focused on sharks.