This is why watching the news often seems like theatre. It's extremely distracting, but often not focused on the real issues that impact people's livelihoods and mental health.

"What's that, Johnny? The teacher's assistant told you about the real poverty levels and what should be done to change them? Oh look, a breaking news alert about a war in some far-flung part of the world. Let's pay attention to that instead!"

"Wow, Mary...Trump is really dominating the air waves and social media, isn't he? I see almost no other news apart from when he has something controversial to say!"

"Hey, Jack! Did you hear about the latest scandal that one of our candidates is involved in? I know you're concerned about issues like corruption, media integrity and child safety ahead of this critical voting date, but just look at this scandal! I mean, EVERYONE is focused on it!"

You get the picture.