History has important lessons. But we must not forget that news of yesterday becomes today's history. Its just that time selects for the important events and forgets the silly ones that we drown in today. Many times history too is written from the place of bias and distortion that feeds today's mainstream news outlets.
History provides a model of the world and human nature, but to fit the present on to that model, present news has to be known too, because just like we should not circumvent the present without the wisdom of history, there is no point in relishing the wisdom of the past without an present to navigate it with!