To think the wall to wall coverage of the titanic sub is a bit much?

[mosiacmaker]

I get that it’s a universally interesting story due to how unique it is, and I am incredibly sorry for the people who died and their families. But the BBC world service global news podcast devoted over 10 mins to this story out of a total 24 minute podcast this morning.

There are so many things happening in the world right now, tragedies but also fantastic innovations and inventions we could be hearing about, but almost 50% of the broadcast was devoted to press conferences and descriptions of the sub, quotes from people who knew the victims etc.

AIBU to think the attention given to this story reached outsize levels and the BBC has a duty to provide fair coverage to stories that will impact our lives?

Sorry, I stand corrected it’s over 10 mins in a 31 minute podcast. Still - 30% of the daily “global” news!

Oh well

It's over now...

You answered your own question in the first sentence

I agree.
I was regularly checking in for updates while it was missing, but id prefer the information to be available than shoved down people's throats.
There are much bigger things in the world that could and should be talked about.

So you thought you'd solve the wall to wall coverage by starting another thread on it?
K.

I disagree, I thought if anything there wasn't enough coverage. It wasn't only news, it was an interesting and unique story - the first time a private underwater vehicle has failed in this way and claimed paying passengers' lives in decades. Think about how much coverage the migrant boats problem gets every time there is a mass fatality, think about how much coverage that gets even when they cross without loss of life. If anything I'd say that's the subject that gets too much coverage.

And yet the 600 people who are lying dead in the hold of a sunken ferry off the coast of Turkey, don't even get a mention.

Funny old world.

All I hope is that the heirs of these people find something worthy to do with the money. Plenty of appropriate charities.

Fair 😂

I think it's the whole Titanic story that's gathering the interest rather than the submersible. We're still fascinated with the story 100+ years on, and I think James Cameron holds some deal of responsibility with that!

I personally think the whole thing of tourism around that site needs to stop. It's just too dangerous.

It's long been said, even before she sank, that The Titanic was cursed.

This tragic story adds to that ever-alluring narrative. Of course people are interested.

If it had been anywhere other than to try to see the Titanic I expect there would have been much less coverage.

The media often over-inflate stories to cover up other stories. This one is to cover the Bank of England increasing the interest rate.

Or repay the huge costs involved in locating/retrieving?

Usually big stories like this are to distract us from other stuff.

It has so many movie-worthy elements, the sunken wreck, the billionaire who can't buy his way out of this one etc etc

At it's core, it was clear early on I think, that it wasn't going to end well so t's morbid voyeurism of death, essentially.

My view is the daring part of this joy ride was the very real chance you might die, they knew that chance and they took it, not because they had to but because they wanted to. It is what it is.

Bet you know about it? So it must have been mentioned somewhere?

"At it's core, it was clear early on I think, that it wasn't going to end well so t's morbid voyeurism of death, essentially."

I think most were hoping against hope for a rescue and survivors.

Well I guess it goes hand in hand with the original titanic story. Plus there needs to be an investigation and answers as to how that guy convinced the passengers it was safe to go on it and got them to part with that much cash.

I can see them making a movie about it one day

There's also an increased news theme of billionaires "fiddling whilst Rome burns" as it were. A story midweek concerned Musk and Zuckerberg having a cage fight (which I didn't read, because those morons don't deserve the attention). Musk also inserted himself into the Thai cave rescue.

Making no comment on the specific billionaires in this case, there is increasing public antipathy to people who "earned" their money (and there's no question in my mind that most billionaire's money was actually earned by the staff whose labour they exploited), for want of a better word, titting about with silly projects and seeking tax breaks.

Yes, billionaires help us learn about the deep seas and fund scholarships blah blah blah. But if they didn't fuck up the planet and society with their greed, they wouldn't have to

This. A few posters certainly seemed very invested in it, constantly saying that their heart was breaking etc. I do think that this was a distraction of some sort, for some people.

Do you mean Greece?

As our 24-hour news culture has turned me into an actual sociopath, as soon as the confirmations were published that the sub had imploded and five human beings were dead, I coolly thought "Well, that's that story wrapped up then. Wonder what we'll move onto next".

And come Monday morning, there won't be one bit of coverage of it.

I can understand it as a tool of distraction
Big money, follyof high risk tourism, the "glamour" of the titanic
People love a race against time story even though it was bloody obvious this was the most likely outcome.

Yet children die enmasse in Sudan orphanages, war continues in many territories and people in this country are having to choose which of their children can eat on which days and we barely hear about it. We blunder through this world with barely an acknowledgement of its grim realities for many because the media directs our view.