I think there may be something to that, that we as a society view some people as less worthy of respect or even 'less human' than others. It explains why we get involved in places like Bosnia, but ignore massacres in places like Nigeria and Rwanda. It explains why National Geographic has been able to publish topless photos of nude 'native' women for decades without public outcry while television continued to show married couples going to bed separately in twin beds in their own homes. The farther away they are, the less like us culturally and in terms of appearance they are, the less we empathize with them.

Should the news make an effort to change how they act and react? Probably, but they have no financial incentive to do so, and certainky no moral incentive. The days of the crusading journalists are past, I think. On the other hand, the world's getting smaller all the time