Are bad things happening more often, or are we just hearing about them more now?

I think we think it's worse because of all the media. Bad news sells so that is what we hear about. Nothing better than a triple homicide to boost ratings. So, I think there has always been bad news, it's just so much more readily available now in all the different medias we now have, and less censorship on what can and cannot be reported or shown. Bad things have happened throughout history, however, remember, good things happen too. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a news show that reported only good news? Ah, the ratings would kill it!

Granted Cyn, I do believe that some things have gotten worse, Gang activity for example. But I am also of the opinion that we hear about it on a much grander scale than did our parents. The media options are 20 times what they were when I was growing up. So much more is accepted as news worthy. There were stories when I was a kid that was so horrendous the three networks would not air it. We only got about 4 channels of TV, and radio was mostly the grand ole opry in my house not to mention amos and andy type programs. Evil in every sense has been here since time began. What we find acceptable is what is different. Lets face it, bad sells. The more horrific the better.

It is just happening more now people are really getting out of control My God have mercy on them

I think it's partially both, though more of it is probably that we hear about these things more often. I have a great quote that I copied out of a newspaper from 1880, but I think it actually applies to today just as well: "Probably the United States Senate of to-day is a more moral body than the Senate of Daniel Webster's and Henry Clay's time. But the bright sunlight of publicity is a good deal more glaring now than it was then, and contemporaneous Senatorial sinners run risks unknown to their naughty predecessors." I think that this goes for more than just Senators, it goes for anyone who ends up in the public spotlight.

I think it's a combination of things. There are more people than there were years ago. people aren't as connected. We have better communication, so we hear about things more. Society's morality sucks, and the press used to have a more hands off attitude with politicos personal life than they do now.

I don't know. I think our parents had it just as bad. When I was growing up I remember sitting down to the Nightly News and hearing about the war in Viet Nam, then JFK was killed in Dallas, then the Ruby-Oswald shooting. Then it was MLK and the riots. Back then it got on television as fast as the news reports could be gotten back to the station for airing. Now with the new technology we are getting it within minutes of it happening. If a news station is lucky enough to get the heads up about a shooting that is about to happen, they're usually there before the police are. If we think we are getting it fast, how fast do you think our kids are going to get it as the technology advances from here? DCMerkle

Bad things happened way back before we had instant worldwide media coverage. We just didn't hear about them so much. With the advent of today's modern technology news stories can be flashed around the world in seconds so we are bombarded with images and stories. With all the publicity now available, so there is an increase in prosecutions and thus more publicity. I don't think people are worse, as such, it's more that the media we now have can make these stories public

There are many evil happenings and people out there but I don't think there are more bad things happening now , I believe we just hear more about it! Years ago women and children had less if any rights - they belonged to their husband when they stopped being their parents possesions, scandal was not allowed but rather things were brushed under the carpet and skeletons left in the cupboard! Nowadays we have more rights and are much more open and actually listen and communicate with our children about what is right and wrong! I wanted to say a lot more cyn but my brain has frozen - sorry! xxx

Bad things happen often in life. And if we search out to know there are so much to hear. Good and bad rotate in the circle of our life.

I've often wondered this exact same thing. Thinking about it is enough to send you into a deep depression. I don't know if it's because people are worse today or because we are just aware of all of these horrible things now. I am just so afraid for my little girls. What kind of world are they growing up in? How can we protect our children? Did our parents worry about the same things? Did their parents?

I think that things are both less taboo to talk about these days, and we have access to info in many more forms than back then. There are so many reasons why we feel better about talking about it now. Perhaps one of them is that more women are in the work force than before and in some cases, make more money than their husbands so, they have more freedom to leave when they find out their husband has been doing something like touching their daughter. They can afford to leave whereas, maybe back in the day, they worried about how they would feed and take care of their children if they left the husband. So, women are more self-sufficient now than they were before. Not to say that no woman was self-sufficient back then. But, we can afford our own lives better now than ever before. And, as I said, it isn't such a taboo thing to talk about now. We understand that it needs to be spoken of now in order to heal. And, with the internet and things like TMZ and Perez Hilton where photo and video access to everyone is more prevalent, it is harder to hide from your misbehavior than it was back then. I don't know how well I have explained my thoughts on this today. I am having a hard time organizing what I thought about! LOL! But, I hope you understood.

The news is very depressing,every day there is someting else to worry everybody.But I make a point of just watching it once a day,hubby watches it all the time.I think it would make you deprssed if you listened to it constantly.The world seems to have become more evil as the years ahve passed,but many years ago the bad news wasnt circulated as well as it can be today,therefore people didny get to hear of it so much.But I dont think the level or depth of the crime was as bad as it is now.But the question is ,where is it all going to end?

people have gotten worse the crime rate has gone up higher there are good people out there but thats why i dont watch the news cause it does get depressing at times

i think it is the combination of the two, but i would say people are also far worse and what we see and hear from media are not enough to judge that!! for example, a journalist may be having an illicit affair with some one's wife but if he gets to know that a man whom everyone knows about is doing the same thing he is doing, he will forget what he is doing and tell every one that that guy is having an affair and all that just to earn some publicity.. people tend to believe only that which is being shown to them. i would say when a crime is committed and if the authority cannot solve it, then it is suppressed so as to save their name. and it goes un-noticed! i believe there still are lots of bad things happening in this world that we don't know about! and i would say we haven't known enough yet!

We just know more. Think of it. There were more rapes and murders during the Roman times than there are now.back then they didn't report them. They weren't beat reporters with the mantra, "If it bleeds , it leads."But then again there weren't any real punishment for rape. So the times are better but people are just as evil as they ever been. We just get to hear, see, or read all the gory details.

I think that it is a combination of both. First off, it seems that morality and the human ability to actually care and nurture for one another is abating. At least it seems like it. Secondly, with the news being everywhere, and instantly, we get bombarded with images and thoughts and activities of the day. Of coarse we are going to hear more bad news if we are constantly plugged in so it can reach us. It's not just in the newspaper any more. It's all over the T.V and not just limited to the nightly news. It's on the radio and all over the internet too. Sensationalism sells. It's that simple. And nothing is more sensational than a catastrophe. Whether it's a catastrophe of the natural kind or one of the human condition, it will sell. So the first to get it out is the first to get the money for it.

I believe it is partly that the media is much more explicit now than it was allowed to be in the past and as another person pointed out, bad news sells. It is also that there are more people, so I'm not sure the ratio of crimes to people is the same as it used to be. Some "indecencies" that were dealt with within the families, or ignored have now become crimes and are reported much more often than they used to be. One thing I am sure of is that the overcrowded conditions of our cities lead to crimes of much more than theft and murder. Overcrowding affects people's thought process and their actions. The greater the overcrowding, the more base humans become.