I'd prefer that you not put words in my mouth when it's such an important concern. I didn't come close to suggesting that news == critical political theory.

Media literacy is actually the opposite of just consuming a lot of news. There is absolutely a skillset that must be developed and exercised which allows an individual to see patterns and tune their BS detector. News - even FOX "news", contextualized - is all necessary and loaded with information. It just isn't the information Rupert Murdoch and pals consciously engineer.

Late thought: I want to say that as someone who reads or listens to 3-4 books a week, there are a lot of mediocre, terrible books out there. Many non-fiction books are based on opinion instead of research.

Just because something is printed and bound doesn't make it inherently better than a profoundly insightful series of tweets.

Then again, don't believe everything you read in the comments on Hacker News, either.