The middle ground (IMO) is local news that's actionable. For me that means reading up on community meetings in my district, events involving local representatives, proposed zoning or street design changes, small-scale infrastructure projects, funding for schools and libraries, etc.
Ultimately these are things that will affect your quality of life much more directly than anything involving national politics, or whatever irrelevant topic cable news anchors want you to get whipped into a frenzy about.
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