> When was the last time you watched the news and thought, “thank God I saw that. Let me go take action.”?

> I’ll answer for you: probably never.

The article is dated "July 29" so I'll assume 2019.

We have a pretty huge counterexample right now: the pandemic has led to a lot of critical information needing to be conveyed to everyone very rapidly. For example, people need to be aware that they cannot leave home, or that they should wear masks when doing so, etc.

Often, the government doesn't have a reliable way to reach the entire population quickly. For example, in the UK, the government sent a letter to every household outlining coronavirus guidance. This letter takes a few days to reach everyone.

The news can be leveraged by the government to relay important messages to the population without any effort.