In advanced democracies, politics operates more as a routine mechanism in the background of daily life and does not dominate headlines to this degree. The fact that the news flow is so saturated with politics indicates a high level of tension, polarisation and a constant crisis-and-solution spiral in society. Politics has moved away from being a technical matter of governance and transformed into a struggle of identity.
The fact that health news accounts for only 5% — and that categories such as science, culture, arts and technology are likely absent from the list entirely — shows that society has depleted its mental energy for topics related to personal wellbeing and development. Because politics consumes most of the oxygen, issues concerning individual life carry no news value or are perceived as a luxury.
The data also reveals the reader's reflexes. People tend to click more on polemic, conflict and power struggles. Politics, unfortunately, is often consumed like society's daily reality show, and these are the contents that generate the most engagement.