Definitely, one does still have to be aware of how bad things can get. The way I see it, that sort of information can filter through no matter what you do. Instead of compltely shutting out however, what I've read some say in regards to this digital minimalism is to keep just one or two news sources. For some that's HN, or a custom subreddit collection, or just opening your local news site once a day/week/whatever.