I personally don't like the "don't watch the news" advice. Do watch the news. Do learn your sources. As much as it is bad, Al Jazeera, for example will not talk of sky falling. Your friends may when they are talking of the events.

Seriously, just avoid the sensationalist news sources and crazy columnists, and you will be fine. News is not that bad - I found out that how people interpret it is much worse usually. I study international relations... and I sat through few family reunions where politics was discussed.

I believe one can desenitize themselves (after all, we done it on societal level, look how suicide bombers over there don't bother us anymore...). But you can do it on healthy level. You can watch the mess around, but realizing world was always mess, it's just now they stream it and tweet it. But it is more or less the same... and we as humanity lived.

And by putting yourself out there... one feels less guilty and powerless.