No, I think I understand the OP. That's why I said "I do not mean to disagree..." Did you catch that part? I'm simply pointing out that for some people the n

No, I think I understand the OP. That's why I said "I do not mean to disagree..." Did you catch that part? I'm simply pointing out that for some people the news is very valuable to what they do. As you say, for the OP it might not have as much value. It depends on what you're trying to do. I think a more interesting title would be: "The power of being able to think for yourself". For example, it's possible to be able to read the news, when it is overwhelmingly negative or even low quality news (e.g. it doesn't tell you anything you don't already know), and still derive something positive from it. And there are many examples that prove this: businesspeople who read heaps of news and still manage to accomplish quite a lot, at least in the opinion of their peers. You may stop reading the news. But most everyone else is still reading it. And to the extent your business is concerned with some segment of that group I refer to as "everyone else", the news is a factor to consider. Hope that's a little more clear. pg's essay on PR as it relates to startups is a decent intro into how the news can be important for hackers.