noun
trivial news; filler story
Colloquial term for a minor or unimportant news item, often used to fill space or time when there is nothing substantial to report.
今日のニュースは暇ネタばかりで、見る価値がなかった。
Today's news was all filler stories and not worth watching.
記者は暇ネタを集めて記事を書いた。
The reporter gathered trivial news items and wrote an article.
ネタ is a general term for material or content, while 暇ネタ specifically refers to trivial or filler material used when there is nothing important.
Compound of 暇 (ひま, 'free time, leisure') and ネタ ('material, content'), literally 'free-time material', referring to content used to fill idle time.