Maybe we should distinguish the impact of the story itself from the impact of people reacting to the story after they read the news? The Tea Party talked a lot about taxes and got a bunch of people elected to Congress, but if you simply ignored the news you'd be none the wiser (and totally unaffected). Same is true for the Iraq War -- it surely had major impact for Iraqis, but for most people in the U.S. it may as well have been a non-event. President Bush either lied about WMDs or didn't (depending on who you ask) and we invaded and killed a bunch of people and changed the government. If you ignored the news, you'd be blindsided by people who want to talk about the war or change their vote because of it, but the Iraq War itself probably wouldn't affect you. It didn't affect me, anyway.
Most things in the news are like that. But then again, a lot of things they teach you in school are like that, too. Knowing that humans came from monkeys or that WW2 began in 1939 doesn't really affect my life, but there's a certain kind of shared knowledge that makes it easier to have a community. So maybe following the news is a bit like following Game of Thrones? If all your buddies are going to talk about it on Monday morning, you wouldn't want to be the only one who doesn't know what's going on.
If you add up all the people that had live in a district where the Tea Party was active, or served in the military, or in government where budgets, decisions, negotiations, etc. were affected by the Iraq war or the Tea Party, it’s probably a decent minority. Now add in anyone who works in health care or received a large medical bill. Then add in their families and friends. That’s got to be a large minority either directly affected or one step removed.
Obama got elected 2 years after this article with these 3 issues core to the debates. I’m guessing that some people who weren’t directly affected based their votes off of the news.
I see what you’re saying that a lot of knowledge isn’t useful day to day, but I actually do use my knowledge of WWII and evolution as foundations of some of my ethical and political views, which I’m sure emanate out into the world via my votes, purchases and conversations.
I agree though the line between news and entertainment is blurry and some people might follow just for the sake of not being out of the loop socially.
Most things in the news are like that. But then again, a lot of things they teach you in school are like that, too. Knowing that humans came from monkeys or that WW2 began in 1939 doesn't really affect my life, but there's a certain kind of shared knowledge that makes it easier to have a community. So maybe following the news is a bit like following Game of Thrones? If all your buddies are going to talk about it on Monday morning, you wouldn't want to be the only one who doesn't know what's going on.