Let's even use Brexit as an example. For the average everyday person in England, brexit is a huge deal. But what benefit is there to the general population to keep up with every twist and turn of political maneuvering? In the end it's important to vote smart. Voting smart can br done via checking up on current events once a week if not once month. Things really do not move as fast as online news and social media will lead you to believe. Brexit is taking years to happen. But if you keep up with the news you might think everyday is the brink of doom or salvation. When in fact the average person has months or possibly years between actionable events.
I've found that keeping exposure to media down to every week or two and mostly reading summaries of events after the fact has helped immensely. It filters out all of the noise you get from live reporting. This helps get down to the facts of what's happened, and allows one to keep a certain emotional detachment from the events and focus on the important things.
On the other hand, there are things happening in the world, decisions being made and actions taken, that almost certainly affect stuff you value. This is especially true in your town/county/sub-national political region -- which is why I said "local". It's still not exactly fun a lot of the time, but knowing -- and being able to influence! -- what's going on around you ultimately has more upside than down.