We have reached a point where news and entertainment are often blurred. Robert MacNeil, respected former anchor for the MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour suggests we are approaching the end of news as we know it. This is commonly called the Information Age, but it is probably appropriate to call it the Entertainment Age, because information must be marketed as entertainment. It is clear that belligerence is entertaining. Gentleness does not.
Civil discourse is boring.
We should not let media hunger for ratings convince us that danger, crime, horror, anger, fury, madness outweigh civility. The threat to society is never too much information. In this Information Age, with so many different sources of news, we have the ability to be the best-informed citizenry in the world. The answer to both questions is yes. Government is changing and I believe for the better.