You're right that the news is rarely actionable or locally 'useful'. But I do read the news and go to events where foreign journalists speak to shape my percept

You're right that the news is rarely actionable or locally 'useful'. But I do read the news and go to events where foreign journalists speak to shape my perception of the world, its diversity and scope, it helps me engage with people from considerably more varied backgrounds (and futures), it reveals new ways to approach or conceptualize unrelated events in my own life. Dont restrict yourself to the SF myopia (which is so easy and attractive). Useful? Nah. Necessary? Absolutely. Skip techcrunch, network tv, and USA today. Look for groups like commonwealthclub.org and find out who smart folk pay attention to (Ezra klein's following list on twitter is pretty golden).