Are we In touch with reality?

Sometimes, I wonder if our western world is too sanitized. I have been following world news for several years now, reading news sites from every part of the globe, BBC, Aljazeera, China Daily, to name just a few (See links at right). My brother, who is in the news business, mentioned to me that there are many news photos and videos that can not be shown on U.S. news, that are regularly shown on foreign news. Accident scenes, severe injuries and bodies are too graphic for us. However, without these images maybe we don't realize the reality, the consequences of drinking and driving, speeding, famine and war. I remember seeing a squished Iraqi child on a foreign news site, it was shocking, but it was real. Many have to witness scenes like this everyday without the benefit of censorship. Maybe, if we had to witness these atrocities, even just through pictures, it would affect our and our legislators decisions.