Communists suppress information that makes their government look bad. Why? Because the more people know of it, the more difficult it is to successfully govern, or be successful at all. They understand how people react to bad news, but that doesn't mean they put their people in danger on purpose.

In the west, we are numb to bad news because that is all we hear. Instead of covering up the bad stuff, our governments create publicity stunts so it doesn't look so bad overall. The problem with publicity stunts and hype is that there is no substance. A good example would be 'hydrogen fuel cells'. Trouble is, we trust and confer so much meaning to the word usage "freedom of information", and "privatization", and "competition" that think we are hearing the whole story, but I doubt it. A little twist here, a little tweak there - our governments probably cover up just as much as the communists.