It's because 100s of migrants drowning at sea is something horrible that regular people can't do anything about. It makes us sad, and angry. Just like almost every other story about billionaire greed and the coming climate disaster.

Now, a bunch of ultra rich, regulation hating, planet destroying losers dying in a tiny submersible because they have the kind of money to go see the titanic for fun? That's the kind of story that makes us feel good. It's karma.

I am fully willing to admit half the reason it's so popular on the news is the novelty of it. A submarine goes missing, possibly sunk, near the Titanic? The truth is the accidents iwth immigrants and migrants happen so often that most of the media doesn't really care about it so much any more. But it used to, I remember seeing stuff about bodies washing up on the shores of Italy. When it was novel is was more popular and 'sold' well so it was reported on. i guarantee you if subs went missing anywhere near as often in the future you would not see as much about it. That's just how the media works these days, it's unfortunate.

Billionaires or not I don't envy them and if they can be saved I hope they will be. Especially the young guy there with his father.

One is the adventure story that almost seems scripted, one is a tradegy that is so common it makes my brain hurt.

I do concede that the missing sub is missing something, so I'm hoping that International law catches up and demands that all these "experimental" commercial subs also has $500 million in gold as balast . . . so it's a treasure hunt also, just to make the story perfect (because right now it's moved from an adventure story, to a horror, it needs a third act).

I don't need to know migrants are dieing, that's just a function of our world. I know why overloaded fishing boats sink, there is no mystery there, it's inherently a less "fun" (god that's terrible to say) story.

Most people here wouldn't have heard about the migrant boat at all if the submarine story hadn't happened.

5 deaths is a tradgey. 500 deaths is a statistic.

It's not media's fault that people don't give a shit about immigrants. They write about stuff that people are willing read

I disagree it's a media thing. It has been covered. It's just not an unusual story so people don't share it as much.

Now billionaires dying on a submarine will get shared plenty. People love those stories. So naturally, you'll see more about it.

Thats the thing about news: anything you see in the news is stuff that doesn’t happen. If it happens all the time, or even just reasonably frequently, it’s just by definition not news, and nobody is going to talk about it, seek it out, or pay any attention to it.

Biggest fuck-ups should sink the deepest

Top news is sad.

Bottom news is uplifting.

I'm kinda seeing this meme every month somewhere. It's old, but always valid

Well the billionaires weren't in the process of breaking any laws at the time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It’s unusual, and taps into some deep-seated fears - people imagine themselves trapped in a submarine running out of air, get seriously frightened, and start desperately hoping they make it out OK just because they don’t want to think about the alternative.

There’s also the Colossal Fuck Up angle - people love stories about incredibly stupid disasters because it makes them feel smart and competent. “I’d never get in a submarine that uses a shitty Logitech controller” they say, congratulating themselves on their foresight. (Even more satisfying when the victims include a billionaire, because those are the very best people to feel superior to)

Yeah I was surprised that the sub news are so popular. I don't think it's because of rich people but more of what an incompetent and novel the issue is. There's hope and a literal timer - makes for good coverage.

Do we get the news we deserve?

It is more about them caring about the rich.