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When I realized that "the news" have much more influence shaping mine and my friends opinion, I was shocked. It passively or they actively distract you from things that really matter in your life [0] (availability heuristic [1]).

And given that 80% of its content is written by PR agencies [2] you can be sure, that every possible cognitive bias will be applied to keep you busy.

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/apr/12/news-is-bad-ro...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Availability_heuristic

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/nov/17/mondaymediasec...



> Given that a (conservative) estimate of 75% of entertainment stories and 50 to 80% of news and business stories emanate from public relations

She doesn't cite any sources to back up those figures. Do you have any available?




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