i see how that came off a bit direct. i agree the 24 hour news cycle is way way too much. and one issue after another is totally depressing. but we can't ignore problems as general advice, that's not how things get solved.
Still, talking to people is as good as it ever was, if you're determined about it. While these days it does require significant care and patience to avoid the memes and the trigger phrases, it's still more than possible to gesture at the ideas behind the noise and get something fresh going - to get minds exchanging.
I'm kidding, and I see what you mean - but I think reading more news solves big issues just as well as reading less news.
Changing the state of things now, or changing the way people approach things in the future - that's how the change thing works. Western people have had so much of the latter from the hyper-media environment that I find myself sympathising with the flouride folks - ideology may as well be in the water for how pervasive it is.
Our individual approaches toward media consumption have to be personal and pragmatic - they aren't statements of Kantian universal morals. Much like tee-totallers don't necessarily believe that everyone should give up drinking.
I know you're not quite saying this, but the idea that avoiding the news and having your head in the sand have anything to do with each other is a false equivalence. If anything, in today's world it's the other way around.