How to watch, and read, your news

"[T]the most studious and engaged man can neglect [newspapers and TV news] only at his cost. But have little to do with them. Learn how to get their best too, without their getting yours.... Like some insects, some [news] died the day it was born....

    "There is a great secret in knowing what to keep out of the mind as well as what to put in.... The genuine news is what you want, and practice quick searches for it. Give yourself only so many minutes for the paper [or TV news]. Then you will learn to avoid the premature reports and anticipations, and the stuff put in for people who have nothing to think.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, from his column 'Emerson Talks With a College Boy'