4 ms·

Reminds me of Aaron Swartz's I Hate The News: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews Honestly, most of the time I

Reminds me of Aaron Swartz's I Hate The News: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews Honestly, most of the time I tend to agree and can't fathom what reading the news does for me. Small outlets like HN sometimes contain things that affect me directly and I can do something about, but general politics is completely out of my reach, especially politics about a country I'm not a member of.

tw1010 9y ago
Judging by how well-informed he was later in life, I think he reversed his opinion on the subject a lot later on.
- whatshisface 9y ago
  The news makes you more poorly informed: by encouraging you to see everything in the light of whatever narrative they've invented, it makes the information you gain from other channels less useful than it would otherwise be.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - tw1010 9y ago
    "If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed."
- ashark 9y ago
  It doesn't take a ton of time to be way better-informed than most people on current events. Background reading of big ol' books is a lot more valuable than keeping up with the headlines every day. You can catch up on the need-to-know current events with one monthly paper you scan on a lazy Sunday morning, and maybe a weekly or monthly newsletter or two. Reading about the stuff daily is 100% not necessary. Similarly, and especially given our two-party system in the US, following every twist and turn in a political race is pure entertainment, of exactly no more value to you or anyone else than watching soap operas. You can make an as-informed-as-it-needs-to-be decision by spending that time on building up foundational knowledge instead, then catching up on the happenings of the race and the candidates' positions an hour before you go vote.
- valuearb 9y ago
  TV news mis-informs by making people think that extremely rare events are likely to happen to them. For example, it's extremely rare for children to be abducted by strangers, but it happens almost every day on cable and TV.

tw1010 9y ago

Judging by how well-informed he was later in life, I think he reversed his opinion on the subject a lot later on.

whatshisface 9y ago
The news makes you more poorly informed: by encouraging you to see everything in the light of whatever narrative they've invented, it makes the information you gain from other channels less useful than it would otherwise be.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- tw1010 9y ago
  "If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed."
ashark 9y ago
It doesn't take a ton of time to be way better-informed than most people on current events. Background reading of big ol' books is a lot more valuable than keeping up with the headlines every day. You can catch up on the need-to-know current events with one monthly paper you scan on a lazy Sunday morning, and maybe a weekly or monthly newsletter or two. Reading about the stuff daily is 100% not necessary. Similarly, and especially given our two-party system in the US, following every twist and turn in a political race is pure entertainment, of exactly no more value to you or anyone else than watching soap operas. You can make an as-informed-as-it-needs-to-be decision by spending that time on building up foundational knowledge instead, then catching up on the happenings of the race and the candidates' positions an hour before you go vote.
valuearb 9y ago
TV news mis-informs by making people think that extremely rare events are likely to happen to them. For example, it's extremely rare for children to be abducted by strangers, but it happens almost every day on cable and TV.