Unfortunately I think there are those who use these events to further their own political ideologies. What gets reported in national media says a lot about this. I find myself watching and reading the news a lot less the older I get. It seems to be entertainment at best, political propaganda at its usual worst.

Perhaps I'm doing it too now. Things do appear out of perspective at times.

I can't recall the last time I watched a nightly news broadcast from any of the big three networks--Jim Lehrer and the crew have my (irregular) attention these days.

It's frustrating to see how things have changed. Is this something everyone goes through as they age?

I think most people have a hard time coming to terms with just exactly how animals should be treated. Even gospel principles don't give us a whole lot to go on--they're somewhere between humans and rocks. Most ideologies regarding treatment of animals can have holes poked in them somewhere--like vegetarians who proclaim eating beef to be 'immoral' but eating chicken is okay (?). (Is there that big a difference between cows and chickens?)

It's a fair point that, in Michael Vick's case, one can ask why there was more 'outrage' towards him than towards other athletes who are known wife-beaters, and other crimes towards humans...

In regards wo what both Eric and Stady had to say about media...My own media consumption habits have clearly shifted over the years. Whether that is an evolution of my own aging process or more reflective of the increasing decadence in broadcasts that I have little desire or toleration for, I cannot say. Either way I watch very little TV news these days.
In a 1989 general conference talk, Elder M. Russell Ballard said of TV:
“Most of us recognize both the many benefits and the many challenges that come from television in our modern, fast-paced world. Some of the benefits, besides listening to the teaching of the gospel, we can receive by merely touching a button include receiving instant reports of local and world events and updates on weather; watching fantasy; exploring geography; living history; enjoying good theater, dance, and music; and experiencing culture from almost every country in the world.
For these kinds of programs we praise the industry. Unfortunately, however, far too much programming is not wholesome and uplifting but is violent, degrading, and destructive to moral values. This kind of television offends the Spirit of the Lord; therefore, I express a word of warning and caution about such programming.”
In the years since that talk was given it has become increasingly apparent that it’s not just the “entertainment” programming that is “violent, degrading, and destructive to moral values.” All too often the news programs fall into that category as well.
I shudder to think of all the young kids who were exposed to endless comments regarding the sexual behavior of a past president or those of any age who have seen gratuitous reports of gore night after night simply because the networks have learned to win high ratings with the mantra that “if it bleeds, it leads.”
Elder Ballard goes on to say: “Good families face very significant challenges in controlling the use of television and videotapes in their homes. I agree with Dr. Victor B. Cline when he said, “I am convinced by a vast amount of research that the images, fantasies, and models which we are repeatedly exposed to in advertisements, entertainment, novels, motion pictures, and other works of art can and do … affect the self-image and, later, the behavior of nearly all young people and adults too.” (Address at Tidewater Assembly on Family Life, Norfolk, Virginia.)”
Sadly, even when we pick quality programming suitable for families all too often we are inundated by ever increasing inttruptions of commercials for shows like “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” or products for “natural male enhancement.” between segments of the show. No matter if there is a strategically placed black out over the bouncing bosoms of the immodest young women in commercials for “Girls Gone Wild” videos or a bleep over words that TV censors do not permit – the IDEAS that are conveyed by those images still come through loud and clear.
So more and more often, I just turn the stupid box off. I’m not one of those anti-TV extremists who think all television is bad. But I do recognize that the amount of TV I watch – whether it be movies or sitcoms, news or sports – all has a direct impact on what I think, imagine, remember and how I feel.
Going back to Elder Ballard’s talk: “On another occasion, Dr. Cline said that the mental diet is as important as the nutritional diet. “The amount of violence a child sees at 7 predicts how violent he will be at 17, 27, and 37. … Children’s minds are like banks—whatever you put in, you get back 10 years later with interest.” He said that violent television teaches children, step-by-step, “how to commit violent acts, and it desensitizes them to the horror of such behavior and to the feelings of victims.” Dr. Cline said that America is suffering from “an explosion of interpersonal violence like we have never seen before. … The violence is because of violence in our entertainment.” (See “Therapist says children who view TV violence tend to become violent,” Deseret News, 24 Mar. 1989, p. 2B.)”
I am not sure I entirely agree with that statement. But I can’t refute the fact that:
“Before television, children played together more often, played outdoors more, spent more time being creative and inventive, and read more. Parents and children spent more time together, talked together more, shared more joint projects and chores, and ate more meals together. (See Ellen B. De Franco, TV On–Off: Better Family Use of Television, Santa Monica, Calif., Goodyear Publishing Co., 1980, pp. 5–6.)”
All that being said, I do think we have a responsibility to be informed about the world and the issues that impact on our nation. How to get a balanced view of that is something I have yet to master.