The article takes a primordial approach to what news is. Technology and media have long addressed this problem, and news is really free now - thanks to Blogger, Google News, Twitter and the like.
Its also an irony that most of us discover our news on a site like Hacker News, and are seconding an opinion that news has become bad.
Some ways to rethink news:
1) News should be an ambient thing. It should be around you, and relate to what you are doing, where you are, who you are, and the people you care about.
2) The good things you do today must reflect in what you receive as news tomorrow.
3) News can be seen as appealing to the producer or consumer in you. When you read something just for infotainment, its for the consumer. When you read something, and you go like - this can help me, its helping the producer. We should strive to tilt the balance of news, and make it more productive - for you.