a hypothesis: the vast majority of news and raw information, by itself, is not actually valuable to the average consumer.

the average consumer doesn't have an easy, cheap, direct way to make money on most raw information. the vast majority of the time, the vast majority of people lack what they'd need to make a buck from the vast majority of information. and the vast majority of people are not interested in or curious about most information. for most people, most information is just noise.

by contrast, the vast majority of people can immediately benefit from being told a joke or having their serious philosophical biases confirmed. they react to it by feeling good. or feeling like they're not alone. and viewers don't have to invest anything or risk anything to obtain that benefit. they just have to sit there and watch.

what's more, they can use that "news programming" as a common experience with other like minded people to build stronger social bonds. that kind of "news" is something they can actually work with, on a social level.

if you're a media company and you want to provide immediate value to the end consumer, this sort of "newstainment" programming is a far stronger and more attractive offering than mere droll information about irrelevant things.