What You Hear Is What You Get, And Keep

Several months ago an acquaintance told me of a tragic, horrific child abuse story that was plastered across the internet news. The things that were perpetrated against this innocent child were disgusting, unspeakable acts.
I responded by saying I did not like to hear of such things, because you can't unhear something once it enters your brain. And this was something I most definitely did not want in me. I know we need to know what's going on in the world. I know I'm not supposed to bury my proverbial "head in the sand." But sometimes it gets to be a little too much.
Consider for a moment what we are subjected to every single day with 24-7 information available. Every time we read, listen to or view a story about some terrible crime we are witnessing it in a very real sense, just like an actual physical witness. We are virtually "in the room" watching the crime happen, only we can't do anything about it. Are we voyeurs? Do we enjoy this sort of thing?
Personally, I don't want to see, hear or otherwise experience these kinds of things. When I see or hear of a child being beaten, a woman being raped or an elderly person being victimized, I get upset! Very upset! A lot of us are getting upset, even traumatized by "witnessing" dozens (or more) terrible acts against humanity every day. Problem is, none of us is getting any kind of support for this-because we're not considered real witnesses! It's not real.
For compassionate people, it's like literally carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders! Instead of just the local newspaper dishing out the bad, worse and worst behavior being acted out, it's the "net" disseminating all of the above from around the globe! I won't even mention examples of what people are doing to eachother because we all have plenty of examples inside our souls already. But it's ugly people, really ugly. And I don't know about you, but it makes me a very angry person, and very sad. Sad for the state we're finding ourselves in.
Then there's the question, are people commiting more acts of violence or are we just more aware of them because of the modern ubiquitousness of information? People will probably be arguing about this question until hell freezes over, but the fact is these things are going on, and we are all right smack in the middle of it. Like it or not. And the view from where I stand isn't pretty.