The news can be really annoying and upsetting at times (Almost click-baity). They like to pump you full of fear with the "teases" so you pay attention (10 things in your kitchen that might kill you! Watch the news, we'll tell you what they are).

Bruce Scheiner said it best in a podcast: I'm paraphrasing: generally if its news, you don't have to worry about it because its uncommon, thats why its news.

I'm happier not paying much attention to it as well. That being said if you live in democracy its kinda important to at least pay some attention to what is going on so you can make informed voting decisions.

If you can find a local source of news, the information is more actionable and usefull. In boston the public radio does an interview/local news radio show [1] that runs 3 hours daily. Its kind of funny too which helps. And we have a news magazine called Chronicle [2]which documents interesting stuff going on in the area.

[1]http://wgbhnews.org/ [2]http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle

I was reading earlier about the wikipedia page for "The Society of Spectacle" and this might be relevant here:

> The Society of the Spectacle is a critique of contemporary consumer culture and commodity fetishism. Before the term "globalization" was popularized, Debord was arguing about issues such as class alienation, cultural homogenization, and the mass media.

Also:

> "The spectacle is not a collection of images," Debord writes, "rather, it is a social relationship between people that is mediated by images."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Society_of_the_Spectacle

There are some good newscasts out there that aren't predicated on emotional manipulation. May I suggest the PBS NewsHour, or Sky News?

Do you know how to figure out if someone does not own a TV? Don't worry, they'll let you know as soon as they can.

Good article.

This is why I quit watching the main networks and only get news from infowars.com.