WE now operate a very strange dual standard relating to fear.

While we pay to see increasingly more inventive and scary horror films onscreen, we have almost diluted news and current affairs programmes by over-warning people about forthcoming scenes or utterings that could shock or offend.

The latest was the case of an England rugby player who made what became a controversial remark to another player when he referred in a match to his traveller origins. Before this went out on the news, there was a warning that people might be offended.

Surely the whole point of showing the item was because it could have been construed as being of an offensive nature? Even if, frankly, it didn’t rate very high on the shockometer.

I completely understand warnings about media flash photography because of the danger to people with photo-sensitive epilepsy but really can’t understand why the news is becoming increasingly sanitised.

If an item is newsworthy, there is a fair chance that it might be shocking in some way in itself, especially when there is a human cost involved. We needed to be shocked about the images of the tiny drowned bodies of migrant children. We are human beings and this is plainly something that offends against humanity.

When we watch the news, we know what we’re buying into: the latest headlines from around the world. Sometimes, this includes horrible occurrences like terrorist atrocities – shootings, bombings, executions- and there is an argument that we shouldn’t be warned against such images upsetting us. If we weren’t in some way moved, that would in itself be entirely wrong.

The world changes because people are shocked by an occurrence. Dictators don’t announce to the world that they’re about to invade a country or carry out a savage act just in case someone, somewhere is a bit shocked. The immediacy and savagery are part of their point.

By being warned that something might upset us, I feel we are reducing its power and dumbing down news to the stage where we feel less moved, less bothered about taking action if that’s what is called for.

We should feel shocked and upset by news items that are shocking and upsetting. Life is not like a movie, rated on its violence, swearing or sexual content. And if it prompts an emotional response because we’re not prepared for it, then that may be a good thing.