kids are hooked on reality Tv, people are hooked on celebrities. I went to a talk about freedom of the press this week, at which a number of journalists of different backgrounds and political opinions spoke. Some of them mentioned the attitude of their editors to certain topics (such as reporting on a finding a month ago by the Human Rights Commission that our Prime Minister was guilty of the abuse and torture of refugee children held in detention). They would be told "that's too gloomy - people don't want to hear about that".

but yes, people do want to feel gloomy, its just that the media controllers want them to feel gloomy about the right things, about those events which will distract them from current political realities.