Rosenblum: Real violence is a click away, but should we go there?

The outcome of the Ray Rice elevator video likely validated — and maddened — domestic violence advocates. While indefinite suspension of the Baltimore Ravens running back by the NFL was widely praised, many wonder why it took a real-time video — viewed by millions — for the league to act.

The video, released Monday by TMZ Sports, shows Rice punching, and knocking out, then-fiancée Janay Palmer in an elevator at an Atlantic City casino in February. TMZ earlier released hotel surveillance video of Rice dragging an unconscious Palmer out of the elevator, which led to a two-game suspension.

The video could be a welcome turning point in domestic abuse awareness, since it's hard to look away. It's definitely an example of a more complex turning point in how we access the news.

We're long past the "Funniest Home Videos" stage. With news filters paper thin and traditional gatekeepers scrambling to keep up with the Wild West of Twitter and TMZ, real horrors such as beatings and beheadings are a click away. If you're feeling a growing anxiety for your kids and yourself, you're in good company.

"I empathize, because it is a watershed moment," said Kenny Irby, a senior faculty member at the Florida-based Poynter Institute, a media think tank, where he specializes in visual journalism.

"Video is the new mass medium of choice, because of the ubiquitous nature of it on YouTube and mobile devices," he said.

The problem is that we're not fully equipped to deal with what we might find there. Making sense of graphic coverage, Irby said, "is a really big issue."

I didn't want to get near it, and never watched it. But there it was, a click away on my news feed, less than 30 minutes after the horrid act was done.

"Social media companies were trying to block it and put strategies in place so that people would be less likely to share it," Irby said. "But you can't stop individuals in a free country from engaging that content."

Similarly in August, ISIL uploaded a video to YouTube showing fellow American journalist James Foley's beheaded corpse. Though quickly deleted, it circulated widely on other Internet sites.

Violence is hardly a 21st-century creation. But until recently, photography was the visual complement to the glorious and grueling stories of our lives (and, fortunately, still is in large measure). Even the most potent pictures allow us our imaginations. I think about the famous photo of Nguyen Ngoc Loan, a South Vietnamese police chief, his gun leveled at the head of Viet Cong suspect Nguyen Van Lem on a Saigon street during the Tet Offensive. We know what happened next.

Today, we'd see it. All of it.

And what our kids might find.

Before speaking with me by phone, Irby of Poynter was visiting a middle school, talking to students about world events.

"From Ferguson to the journalists' beheadings, these kids are very much in touch with what is going on around them," he said. "None of them would admit to seeing the video, but they are very much aware of it."

Because of that, he and other media professionals counsel us to have a conversation with our kids, and our consciences, and develop a personal media approach. Some thoughts:

Filter. The U's Lewis acknowledges that we're "facing a bit of a filter crisis" today. Traditional news sources, such as print newspapers and radio and television news stations, have decades of experience in editing, and they operate under strict professional codes. Now, relative newcomers such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook "are being asked to adjudicate what should and should not be in the public square," he said. That means we have to be more deliberate in our news consumption. Seek out several news sources for context and perspective. Turn to radio to avoid visual images altogether. Avoid unfamiliar websites.

Access local sources. Hyperlocal publications, such as news weeklies and newsletters from your neighborhood park or co-op, are a good way to keep you informed about local issues you have a stake in.

Volunteer. This is my solution to all the ills of the world. Do something for somebody else.

Take the long view. The U's Lewis finds himself oddly relieved to be reminded about what a work in progress our world always has been. He's currently listening to "a really great podcast about World War I, which is unbelievably horrific," he said with a laugh.

"It's beyond our capacity to understand. When you immerse yourself in history, you realize that things have been bad for a really long time. I do take a little solace in the fact that, as humans, we have faced and overcome unbelievably crazy things in the course of history. We can find hope in that."

gail.rosenblum@startribune.com