Let's take a look at recent events receiving Media Focus, while others received much less (if any) focus, and then I'll discuss why these distractions are so effective, even when we know they are distracting us.
Item's the media pretty much ignored: 1. Hitlary signed off on the fake dossier herself. 2. Sossaman's jury nullification. 3. Arizona's legislature revelation of evidence of election fraud. 4. Epstein/Maxwell client list
Here's what the media used to distract the population: 1. Johnny Depp/Amber Heard 2. Robb Elementary shooting
The subconscious mind has two main objectives: Keep the Body Alive and Procreate. Whether you believe in millions/billions of years of evolution (survival of the fittest + passing on genes) or creation (survive and "replenish" the earth with your offspring), it is easy to see the importance of these two objectives and thus the purpose of the Subconscious Mind (SM).
The SM accomplishes this by releasing certain chemicals as a reward/punishment system. Dopamine, oxytocin, epinephrine, serotonin, cortisol and adrenaline are examples of these "natural drugs" that are released.
When you've been hungry an extended period of time, you get "punished" with cortisol (the stress drug). You start to "feel bad" and are thereby encouraged to find food. This is why people often eat when they are "stressed out." The problem is the reason we are stressed out in the modern era usually has little to do with having enough to eat.
When you're hungry and you find food, you get "rewarded" with a shot of dopamine which makes you feel good (so you want to eat more); you really only get the dopamine with the first few bites though. This is why the first bite of an apple tastes the best; we eat the rest of the apple, in part, because we are chasing that initial feeling. This is actually a great diet tip; recognize when the food stops tasting as good as it did at first and stop eating (particularly useful for desserts).
When you are in the wilderness, unprotected and you find a weapon, you also get a shot of dopamine; thus, you feel better when you feel you can defend yourself. This is a more masculine trait, women (whether they like it or not) will get this shot when they have a man that is capable of defending both of them. This is one of the attractions "assholes" have (for those wondering why so many women seem to be attracted to assholes). In modern day society (for those of us that enjoy the freedom protected by the 2A), we get the shot of dopamine when we buy a firearm, or accessories that make the firearm more effective, or ammo, or a knife, etc... Explains why some people have legitimate arsenals.
When you do things that enhance your standing within your "tribe" you get a shot of serotonin. Which makes you feel important, and also that you "belong" with these people. This is important because being in good standing with your tribe will increase your chances of mating.
When you find that mate and there is mutual attraction, you get a shot of the love drug: oxytocin. Women get a HUGE shot of oxytocin when her child is born, ensuring that she "falls in love" with that baby and therefore will "do anything" to protect it and care for it.
Epinephrine and Adrenaline are the survival drugs, "fight or flight". Surviving the "event' that caused a rush of these drugs will result in a shot of dopamine. Most of your adrenaline junkies aren't really looking for adrenaline, they're looking for the dopamine hit that comes after.
Externally sourced drugs (morphine, cocaine, heroin, etc...) have similar effects as their "natural" counterparts. The SM catches on that you are "cheating the system" and works against these external drugs. Hence why it takes "more and more" to get the same original high.
Ok, so what does any of that have to do with how the media distracts us.
The subconscious mind doesn't know the difference between something vividly imagined and something real. Meaning, when you are watching The Walking Dead on your 4K HDR Big Screen TV, it doesn't know that what is happening is not real. When the characters on the TV (or movie screen @ the theaters) do things that would warrant one of the above "awards", your subconscious releases the same chemical reward in your body. YOU get a shot of dopamine when THE CHARACTER in the show you're watching survives some dangerous situation.
Moreover, you become so ingrained in the false reality presented on the screen that to your subconscious mind YOU ARE the CHARACTER! Have you ever walked out of a movie theater feeling like you were the main character, that you had just done all of those things (survived the danger, rescued the girl, got "play time" with said girl, or whatever it was)?
We also start to associate ourselves with the actors/actresses in the movies we go to; they become part of our "tribe." This is where the attraction certain people have with celebrities; what is the celebrity doing, who is he dating, what is going on in his life. In some extreme examples you see people go off the deep-end and the targeted celebrity has to get a restraining order against someone describing themselves as "Number One Fan!". There is even a name for it: Celebrity Obsession Disorder. In extreme cases, the obsessed person wants to be the celebrity. (This goes back to the previous paragraph -- you are the character).
Now, we move on to the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard thing. Johnny's an important member of our tribe! We've known him since his early work as Officer Tom Hanson and Edward Scissorhands. We've been with him through countless battles as Captain Jack Sparrow and Tonto. Amber isn't as well known, but she is known, so a member of the tribe, but not as important.
Because of the familiarity we have with Johnny (he's been in our homes many times as various characters, he's practically "family" to the SM), we tuned in. In some ways, just like we "became him" during certain movies, we "became him" during the trial. Any guy that's had a bad breakup was on his side. Even ladies were on his side (the wiring is different, so they would be catty toward Amber).
Ok, so what about Robb Elementary; this is actually a bit different. Most people on both sides of the gun-control issue are extremely passionate about their positions. Covering the shooting will cause every parent (on both sides) to say, "what if that was my kids' school." You automatically put yourself into that position. The longer the media can drag this on, the longer they will put you into that situation. If you're a parent, it's almost impossible to hear or see a story about it without wondering what YOU would do in the same situation. Read any online forum's threads on the Elementary school shooting in TX and you'll see a good portion of the discussion is about what we would do in the same situation.
In both cases, the "distraction" is REAL to you, whereas the thing they are distracting you from is "less real". You might get angry over the crimes committed by Hitlary, her arrogance regarding said crimes and the system's unwillingness to really go after her, but in the end, you don't relate to her, she's not "in your tribe". While consciously you care about this subject, your SM could care less.
The distractions work because your SM cares about the things "close" to you but doesn't care much about anything outside of that.