Over at Slate, Jacob Weisberg writes that rising gas prices make politicians act irrationally. But people in government aren't the only ones that throw reason to the wind when faced with this overhyped phenomenon. Two recent articles show that some in the media are just as silly.

Take a recent Reuters article that makes the claim that some motorists are deliberately running out of gas on the freeway in order to take advantage of patrolling tow trucks that give out a free gallon of gas to stranded motorists. That seems spurious, and the best evidence the article gives of this "trend" is some quotes from two tow-truck-company owners. Gelf called the American Automobile Association to see if they kept any stats on this phenomenon (AAA plus members are also entitled to free gas when they run dry). Northern California AAA spokesman Sean Comey, after chuckling a bit, said that he'd look into it for us. (We'll let you know if he comes up with anything.) In the meantime, he pointed out, even if a correlation exists between motorists running out of gas and higher gas prices, that doesn't equal some sort of weird causation wherein normally rational people become willing to wait for extended periods of time on the side of the highway for what amounts to about $3.00. Of course, that didn't stop CNN from featuring the sensationalist Reuters piece on its front page.

Another article, this time from a local news station in Madison, Wisconsin, claims that some drivers have started selling stuff to pawn shops in order to pay for gas. The basis for this claim? A second-hand quote from a pawn-shop dealer about a guy who wanted more money for a gold pendant because he was going on a long drive. But the headline "Weird Guy Wants More Money For His Pendant So He Can Go To Milwaukee" just doesn't work as well as "Drivers Turn To Pawn Shops For Gas Money," so both the local station and Yahoo News, which picked the story up, went with the latter.

Yes, it's terrible that gas prices are rising. (Or maybe not, as Weisberg points out.) But it was also terrible this winter when heating oil-costs rose; it's just that PG&E doesn't have huge signs pointing out how much they're charging per gallon. Let's treat climbing gas prices for what they are: A relatively minor symptom of a far bigger problem.