In June 2023, while world news was captivated by the Oceangate submarine disappearance, an even larger disaster was unfolding largely out of public sight. A boat packed with migrants, the Adriana, capsized off the coast of Greece, claiming over 500 lives. Despite the overlap of these two events, the smaller submarine incident received far more media attention and search-and-rescue efforts.

While both of these incidents are tragedies, the Greek shipwreck brought up objectively greater concerns: many deaths would have been prevented with better government response, and the nature of the incident raised concerns about widespread apathy for immigrants. The attention brought to the submersible explosion, on the other hand, existed largely because of its entertainment value. The tale of five aristocrats dying on a leisurely submarine ride (to see the Titanic’s remains, no less) seems far more bizarre and fascinating than an outright tragedy—that is the substance of what makes viral headlines. Whether or not they realize it, people tend to read and popularize the most entertaining news, bringing great attention to a few stories while leaving others in the shadows. 

This is not because people are inherently unjust. Rather, it indicates our disposition to fixate on stories which have more fame factor than depth—often incidentally focusing on people in power. In the process, we lose a sense of understanding and appreciation for the majority of news that fails to fit ongoing trends. 

There are countless other examples of this. For instance, the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson created an electrifying media response and manhunt due to the sparks of drama generated by his lofty executive position and public disdain for the healthcare industry. At the same time, many other murders passed with relatively little attention. A high-stakes example would be the assassinations of various Mexican politicians before the nation’s election in the same year. In the United States, the Apalachee High School shooting two months prior received relatively little attention, potentially dismissed due to the commonality of gun violence incidents. 

Perhaps most importantly, this phenomenon points to a deeper numbness or apathy within each of us. The modern world is filled with sadness and disaster, and the instant, endless availability of news has brought that ever nearer to people’s lives. We are steeped in stories of suffering and, as a result, have become jaded. The plight of one group of migrants can seem insignificant in the midst of the vast net of immigration crises, much less everything else going on worldwide. Without anything to make them pop, headlines like these are quickly swept out for new ones.

Other forms of inequality have constantly caused problems in news representation. Societal bias has skewed media portrayals of minorities. Geopolitical relevance to America has, for one, centered media attention on regions like Ukraine and Gaza while largely ignoring other conflict-embroiled nations like Sudan and Myanmar.  

So what does this ultimately tell us? For one, it demonstrates how people subconsciously place less value on certain lives—not necessarily out of a lack of care but because they don’t fit our excitement-hungry attitudes. While perfectly balanced media representation is impossible, people should still do their best to search for news that concerns not only entertainment or virality but the wellbeing of the globe as a whole. It may have no immediate reward, but it is the only way to gain a deeper understanding of the world and reduce media’s fixation on the frivolous. Perhaps the awareness and empathy that can come from such understanding is what we truly need for change in this day and age.