That's only (arguably) true for issues of national or global importance. It is also important to be an informed citizen and voter on state and local issues, and many local news sources are woefully inadequate. Many states and towns have local referendums and elections held at times of no national election, counting on apathy, ignorance and low turnout to be able to more easily sway the vote.

... But if you only read HN ... Let's say that news is really as bad as everyone is saying, that must mean that people are basically mindless and necessarily believe everything simply because they consume it ... Ok, but if that's case and you only consume HN comments and believe the general echo chamber ... I think you will end up with a bizarre conception of the real world ...