I think you're missing the point. I'm not saying that you should glue your eyes to the news outlets with great details about what's going on, just enough to get a general vision of what's happening around you.
With my example of stupid laws I wanted to make a point about knowing the laws of your country. There are special newspapers or websites that are specific about laws updates and such, or they will be featured in a mainstream news outlet anyway if they're very scandalous. You will get in trouble if you break the law even though you didn't know it. While some older laws are never enforced, some fairly recent ones are.
As for my example about the killer, while I don't care on what kind of drug the person is or their past, I want to know how they look like or when they strike the most, if it happened near a place where I live or I often visit. Not only I will keep an eye out for myself, but also give useful information to the police if I see anything. That also works with wild animals getting near houses (happens far more than you think), thieves, bad weather predictions and such. Even when something I don't like happens and I want to do something about it.
Are news outlets often biased and pointless? I agree. It took me a while to find a good resource but I opted for WSJ in the end with a quick look at my local newspaper.
Again, I'm not forcing you into changing your way of life or anything. I just find it wrong and wanted to share my own opinion. If you still think it's not wort it, feel free to
no hard feelings. I might be smart but I'm not perfect. Everyone should live the way they want to.