I'm not sure what you mean by this. In particular what "knowledge of the news" is.

What I'm getting at is that the premise that news is mostly negative seems to pretty clearly dictate that we would be better off without most news. Yet this seems to contradict a pretty wildly held belief that getting rid of news is troubling.

I think what they mean is that, someone knowing what is happening in the world, and being able to discuss those things, could be seen as them being part of a certain level/caste in society. Being able to discuss issues, being seen as intelligent and knowledgeable.

Ie, you will be looked down on in some circles if you are not aware of what is going on. Knowing what someone else doesn't know is a way of being better than them. Or signalling that you are better than them.

It's not usually as overt as this, but it's there.

I will admit that while reading the news I have on occasion consciously committed certain details about recent events to memory knowing I had an upcoming social gathering specifically for this purpose.