I gave up on reading newspapers and watching TV news over a decade ago and I can't point to a single way that it's ever harmed me. My basic theory is as follows:
- I miss out on the fearmongering
- I save a tremendous amount of time
- If anything important IS happening, everyone will be talking about it, so I'll hear about it
- Even if I do miss hearing about an important issue, what does it matter? What can I actually do to prevent e.g. the fiscal cliff, or the failure of Lehman Brothers, or etc?
- When it comes time to vote, I talk with my friends who actually care about news / politics and, if use their information (plus a bit of research if needed) to decide my vote
- I read Hacker news or other sites like it because the news that geeks want to know about is far more likely to be interesting / relevant.
Aside from some occasional mild embarrassment when someone asks me an opinion on something I'm not aware of -- which can usually be deflected simply by saying something innocuous and then turning the conversation back to them -- this has worked excellently for me.
- I miss out on the fearmongering
- I save a tremendous amount of time
- If anything important IS happening, everyone will be talking about it, so I'll hear about it
- Even if I do miss hearing about an important issue, what does it matter? What can I actually do to prevent e.g. the fiscal cliff, or the failure of Lehman Brothers, or etc?
- When it comes time to vote, I talk with my friends who actually care about news / politics and, if use their information (plus a bit of research if needed) to decide my vote
- I read Hacker news or other sites like it because the news that geeks want to know about is far more likely to be interesting / relevant.
Aside from some occasional mild embarrassment when someone asks me an opinion on something I'm not aware of -- which can usually be deflected simply by saying something innocuous and then turning the conversation back to them -- this has worked excellently for me.