I think he just means that "the news" gets sold with beauty just like everything else, and so his "I don't watch the news" has nothing to do personally with what Hume looks like. I think it's a clever remark, actually.
And as for reading the papers: I can barely stand it most days; give me a briefer any old day! He's probably exaggerating, I think: I'm sure he reads the Daily Brief. He probably considers that "Condi coming in and telling me what's happening" ...
Besides: look what happened to Nixon's paranoia when he started reading every paper he could find ...
(This seems like a dumb point: "reading the papers" doesn't "make you smart" ...)