I don't watch or read news, and I feel pretty knowledgeable about my environment. I feel that if I actually engage in my community I am much more plugged in to my environment than if I try to read about it on the news.
Neither do I.
If you think you're learning about social, political, and economic mechanics on a global scale from the news, then I implore you to keep consuming. I've never learned anything from the news that I couldn't have learned talking to someone else who watched it instead.