The news makes a lot more sense if you believe in various conspiracies or as former Economic Hitman, John Perkins, would call them “fraternities of ideas.” For example, why third world countries never seem to get it together? Because “we” sink them with debt disguised as aid and then suck their economic resources dry. What the news will show is the effect of that on a more micro or sensationalist level while obscuring the root causes. The whole Somali pirate thing is another great example. We’re yelling “kick ass” at the Navy SEAL story on CNN, but we know next to nothing about Europe dumping nuclear waste off their coast and China stealing seafood from their territorial waters, which is what prompted the piracy in the first place.
I also think these things are sort of guided chants or incantations designed to keep us irate or at least keep our focus off anything that threatens the seats of “real” power. Stories are powerful for creating our reality, and we throughout our lives seek the retelling of stories whether they are religious or family or stories that empower us to take on an issue (the runaway success of the Chicken Soup series is an example). People who listen to Rush Limbaugh every day are getting their daily incantation of one kind of reality, as are people who listen to Keith Olbermann. (Take a look at wonkette.com for yet another style of incantation that has a seductive AHA! truthfulness to it, but is nevertheless rooted in futility.) So, the experience of “the news” is being fed a version (and a vision) of reality over and over.
Regarding the crazies, and especially “lone gunmen” I personally think there are a significant number of CIA-ish mind controlled patsies running around and that some of these incidents are their handiwork (the Pentagon shooter, the Virginia Tech shooter, McVeigh, etc). Obviously there are others who are just crazy and go out and do shit, but more than likely their agitation is the result of a guided incantation of reality.
(I guess I could have just said “propaganda” and kept this response a lot shorter.)
I deal with it by reading between the lines as much as possible and reading “alternative” sources to get ideas about what isn’t being told. For me, though, the deeper answer is to change the incantation to something else altogether, which is a step I have yet to take but hope to do sometime soon.