This assumes that the public databases actually contain any information that will allow you to connect the dots. Aaron's claim seems to be that they mostly contain fluff that has nothing to do with the actual functioning of the government. That's why you have to investigate and uncover rather than simply analyze to get to the truth.
Yes. Yhe definition of the word "news" has been expanded to include anything that seems new. The other way of looking at it is to limit it to "things someone doesn't want you to announce." The argument in this article is that these databases are full only of data that people want you to announce. So how useful can it really be?
