He provides some pretty good reasoning that ignoring the news and doing candidate research might be make you a more informed voter.
Could you give an example of something you learned or read in the news that had a practical effect on your life?
Today the news told me that a particular road I use to get to work is closed.
Yesterday the news told me that a charity I usually contribute to, but forgot to this year, is falling short of its annual fundraising goal.
Last week the news told me that a product I use has been recalled for safety reasons.
The only people who say that the news is irrelevant to their lives are people who don't actually consume the news, and choose to imagine that the reality is identical to the parody in their minds.
There are more news sources today than ever. If you don't like the one in front of you, there are others.
However, a newsletter or a status update on social media seem like they would cover that type of information.
But they're not "news" in the common usage made of that word by any stretch of the imagination.
The reason it's called "journalism" is because newspapers started as daily journals of what ships were coming into port, and what cargo was expected.
Boring, mundane, everyday, very local news.
The point was that people more and more disassociate these things with "news", and when they say they're not reading the news, that's not what they mean — regardless of the origin of the word "journalism".
The fact they don't refer to that as news might however have to do with the fact that information comes to them through apps that are not news apps. (Weather app, social media apps, etc.).
I'm also puzzled as to the statement that "all news is local." No, when you watch the news, most news is definitely remote and irrelevant to the life of the people who watch it. That's why they stop watching/reading it, usually.
To me, more specialized news sources sometimes definitely can be relevant to your career (think trade journals and similar), or perhaps helps you learn new things (techniques, tools, etc.) about your hobby. Definitely I've learned some things from these type of sources.
If you have a good local media source, you will also see stories with relevance to your life, perhaps affecting some of the things you do, at the least involving the town you live in. Unfortunately good local media can be tough to find in some places.
It usually does not involve me directly (though it indirectly involve me if said investigation is about things I pay for via taxes), but I do appreciate good investigative journalism sometimes for unearthing various wrongs and putting public pressure on organizations to do the right things. Good investigative journalism unfortunately is also in decline, however.
I think Aaron's point is absolutely correct when it comes to the current trend of "news" to be talking heads shouting at each other, and yellow journalism designed to titillate, not inform. Even more sober journalism can over-focus on national issues, and that can be problematic without a balance of the local, as Aaron IMHO correctly implies. Unfortunately increasingly national and increasingly overemotional is the most visible trend of "news" today.