Is it normal to generally avoid the news?

I hate television news. It's delivered in such a biased manner. I'm not saying print is not biased either, but it's missing the elements of the newscaster's facial expression and tone of voice, which can influence your opinion of the story. Also, television news is delivered in such a ridiculous, sensational way. First the big story, then the disaster, some politics, celebrity gossip--nothing too important, or too detailed. Just a brief interesting bit to keep you from changing the channel. You can only take what they give you, and what they're giving you is rarely valuable information.
However I think it's irresponsible to avoid the news altogether. It's important to keep abreast of current events, and to be aware of issues in government which could possibly affect your life. This is the beauty of the Internet--you can pick and choose what to pay attention to, and your resources are nearly infinite. You can avoid celebrity chatter and grim local murders, and focus on what affects you.

As the leader of justice I'll keep a note on the comments. I watch the news and I want the politicians to win.

man im sick and tierd of hearing about oil spills, natural disasters and bombing i hear negative crapp all the time why cant they much more positive stuff, if i was a news anchor id probably hang myself lol id be depressed

Most news is pretty depressing. We live in a fcked up world!!! :(

I can't stand the news either. They hardly ever show good things. Just the meyhem. And that's biased.