[quote]But what you do in that case is, instead of reading the news analysis of the press release, you go find the actual press release (and pay attention to who it's coming from, so you're aware of the bias). The press release will usually be shorter, but nothing else the journalist adds is worth reading anyway.[/quote]

So, this is an interesting take on things, but... Well, here's why I still read news articles:

I like to know...
[list][*]What the media wants people to hear,
[*]What the media is leaving out,
[*]And what people are being told.[/list]
This may seem silly, but this is a huge reason for me to keep track of what the media is saying. A LOT of people still listen to one or two media outlets and accept everything they say as truth. Now, that's an awful thing to do, but that's what people do anyway. So, I take my darned time paying attention to what the media has to say about things.

Another thing to pay attention to (if you drive a car a lot) is talk show hosts. I live in Texas, so I get to listen to some particularly scary individuals while I drive like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Now, I don't like what I hear from them, but I listen anyway because I [i]know[/i] that folks around me like what those two say. Plus, you never know when you're going to have to argue against someone who's getting their information from these talk shows.

I guess I can summarize my opinion as this: being aware of what you're being [i]told[/i] is true is just as important as knowing what's [i]actually[/i] true.