Staying informed is a real value — but the editors know exactly which photos they’re choosing.
Q. Do inappropriate pictures in newspapers make them forbidden?
It’s definitely important to know what’s going on with Am Yisrael, especially because we’re in the center of the world news so often, and we must know what we should/can do (e.g. if there’s danger of war, if we should apply political pressure on the Prime Minister of Israel or President of the U.S., or volunteering to look for a missing child, donating money or clothing if there’s a fire, etc.), and also what to daven (pray) for. For this reason, the Netziv and many great rabbis regularly read news journals. On the other hand, one isn’t allowed to do a mitzvah through doing something wrong (“mitzvah haba’a al y’dei aveira”). Even if you are accustomed to looking away when seeing immodest dress in the street, it’s almost impossible to avoid when your task at hand is to purposely look at the paper. In addition, the editors and advertisers deliberately choose especially attractive and provocative pictures, so it’s even more problematic. Listening to the radio news is one solution. Even better, thank G-d, today there are religious or kosher radio stations, websites and newspapers like Arutz Sheva and Makor Rishon, which are fine in this regard, and hopefully also regarding lashon hara (slander/gossip), which is no less problematic, often even more (here, the radio doesn’t help, except for its brevity!). May I suggest my Hebrew article “Newspapers- Mitzva or Prohibition?”, found on the web.
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