Media makes us less informed

I was reading in my textbook "China's Political Systems: Modernization & Tradition," by June T. Dreyer. The fascinating part is that China used to be very politically active, just like the US. So mush so that every few years the people would demand a reform. Now the interesting idea was that once TV shows entered China people became more complacent. Now prior to the privatization of Cable the Party used TV as a mechanism for propaganda, but as channels increased companies began to put game shows and other entertainment shows that are popular in places like the US.
Now the benefit that China has noticed is that people care less about their government now that they have all these distractions. People are less concerned about PRC's leaders if they don't know who they are. Consider China has clearly seen a theory that I call a limit of interest and or necessary knowledge. People only have so much time and energy to dedicate to learn about or be concerned about so the media is filling up the previously politically active brain with snippets about the fabulous life of Paris Hilton.
Meaning that the if the government can distract the populace and as long as their policy does not inconvenience to many lives they get a freer ride. It is possible that this is why young people choose not to vote they refuse to dedicate enough time to become informed about politics rather than whether or not dull metallic’s will be fashionable this fall.