[panarchy]

It usually means rich people care about stirring up pointless outrage and/or getting clicks from people making a stir about the frivolity of it.

[ThrowawayTestr]

Or the writer needed to fill their quota for the day

[alsetmusic]

No, the parent was right. A huge amount of "news" is meant to keep people distracted from anything meaningful that actually affects them. This is because the people with power have long understood how to keep the rest fighting amongst ourselves.