The main function* of the news is to distract cogs in the machine from noticing that their life[, i.e. their experience[ and world]] has adopted a structure that fits their function; – that their life is vastly less interesting than it could be and that nothing new is happening[/being experienced] on the global level that will change this state of affairs – that they are basically idling.
*function in this sense doesn’t imply that the machine or news writers are aware of this. Rather: the machine, due to its structure, self-selects for cogs/parts that fit: for individuals and [news-]organisations that do this.