The awesome advantage of pulling all of one’s news is that one can ignore stories that have no real impact on their life and focus on the ones that do. I didn’t find out about the swine nor the bird flues until it was determined that there was no real risk. I missed the chance to worry about it. :)
You can avoid much of the US nonsense by listening to BBC news. They tend to ignore much of the “People magazine” stories designed to push the Democrat Party agenda.
My aunt with dementia can’t look at a clock and tell you the time but she can prattle endlessly about the “children” on CNN and how “that ole Donald Duck” is hurting them.