Rolf Dobelli on how news misleads, is irrelevant, has no explanatory power, is actually toxic to your body, increases cognitive errors, inhibits thinking, is addictive like a drug, wastes your time, keeps us passive and kills our creativity.

Today, we have reached the same point in relation to information that we faced 20 years ago in regard to food. We are beginning to recognise how toxic news can be.

Society needs journalism – but in a different way. Investigative journalism is always relevant. We need reporting that polices our institutions and uncovers truth. But important findings don’t have to arrive in the form of news. Long journal articles and in-depth books are good, too.