Yes panic and sex sells.
It has always been a top hit, which is why media and companies will always use it to get attention and make you click on their news article.
Most sites are so full of ads now, so they really want you to click and spend time on the site.
It's beyond sad that this is the case though. How do we live in a society where people will continue to use news sites like this to determine what's true and what isn't?
I've always said, people have the memory of a goldfish. So even if they're presented with facts to show that their favorite news source is obviously biased and is outright lying, they don't care and they're just going to scroll to the next story. I guess that's how this is all supposed to work though.
Tons of sheep relying on the big corporate news media. LOL.