I *know* it's not comparable

[Eyesopenwideawake]

It's desperately sad that 4 people are probably going to die in that submarine and I feel for them and their loved ones but I feel a deep sense of injustice (anger?) that may well be 500 people in the hull of a boat at the bottom of the Med and no one is looking for them or even talking about them.

I agree with you.

I agree, where is the acres of news coverage empathising with refugees who capsize and drown? Especially as refugees have run out of options and the submariners chose to take that risk for their pleasure.

The way the news prioritises the stories of the privileged and the western countries can't be unseen

was saying exactly this to dh. The 500 were simply fleeing conflict and destitution. Trying to rebuild their shattered lives and make lives better for their families. They are not as valuable as 4 billionaires paying $250,000 each to go and see a shipwreck for a few minutes. Thats why the Italian coastguard ignored helping them then lied about it. Contrast with a minimum of 3 countries rushing off to rescue these 4. Sad indictment on humans.

I was just thinking about it

I don't think it's a matter of value of the lives, but the focus of the media, which directs the opinion of the public. 500 people missing is worth two days max. 4 people missing, mass coverage for hours on end. It's so wrong.

You could say that about any story, though, OP. Why did people get excited about Lioness' winning Euros last year when there were so many upsetting things happening in the world to talk about instead. How could they?

It's intriguing to me why people talk about the Titanic, it still has some mystique to it I guess. And maybe there's something relatable. I can't imagine being unable to swim, and then paying huge amounts to people smugglers, getting into an overcrowded boat with 750 strangers, to go look for a fantasy fairy tale in Europe. It's incomprehensible.

Stuck in an adrift submersible with 3-4 strangers, knowing mortality will probably come. That's a concept we can more easily grasp, how would I feel, what would I do, what would my regrets be, etc. It's on a human scale. Your brain can get round it.

I agree with you.

I agree with you too.

paying huge amounts to people smugglers, getting into an overcrowded boat with 750 strangers, to go look for a fantasy fairy tale in Europe. It's incomprehensible

It really isn't if your life is so unbearable that you will risk anything to escape. Including getting on that boat, in the dark, with nothing other than hope for something better than you've left behind.

Well I guess we know those people in the boat are dead, whereas there is a chance to save the people in the sub. So the media catch onto that and it can be played out as a live news story with the constant updates.

yeah, it's the uncertainty. The not knowing so a sad or miracle outcome could be declared at any moment.

Plus it's 'safe' to be interested in the submersible. The persons in the submersible are just 5 randoms doing something they wanted. It's not really a tragedy in the broader sense, what happens to them.

People dying in Meditarranean after being forced to leave their homes, and being taken advantage of & abused, including small children is horribly too upsetting to dwell on (for ordinary people like me who can't change anything about their problems).

Those people. 500 people. When were you last in the company of 500 people in a small space? A concert? A cinema, a theatre? That's a lot of bodies.

Huh? I'm absolutely gutted for the people in the boat, it's an horrific situation. I was pointing out that the 'will they live or not' aspect is the reason the media are giving so much coverage to those people in the sub.

Yes this is the reason. It's tragic the refugees that died on the boat, but these people are hopefully still alive. It's terrifying to imagine them stuck there waiting for death - the world wants to see them rescued. Much like the little boy stuck in the Indian well - it's huge news because they have a chance to be rescued.