For those who are unaware: A couple billionaires, a pilot, and one of the billionaires’ son are currently stuck inside an extremely tiny sub a couple thousand meters under the sea (inside of the sub with the guys above).
They were supposed to dive down to the titanic, but lost connection about halfway down. They’ve been missing for the past 48 hours, and have 2 days until the oxygen in the sub runs out. Do you think they’ll make it?
It’s unusual. That’s what it boils down to, whether we like it or not. The ongoing nature of the story makes it additionally intriguing, since we don’t know what happened and what will happen.
You or me getting into a car Crash? Not unusual, not (major) news, and “done” - no further news are expected: not interesting. A gang member shooting another gang member in Gary, Indiana? Not unusual, not (Major) news, not interesting.
Size of the tragedy doesn’t necessarily matter either, but cultural connection does to some extent: Another warlord committing another genocide somewhere in Africa? Not unusual, not news, not interesting. A large disaster in a country culturally close to you will be more relatable, and more likely to be covered, than a similar disaster in a poorer coutnry, but “unusual” still overrides this.
33 adults killed in a mining accident? Not news. Maybe a footnote on a slow day. 33 adults buried, possibly alive, after a mine collapse? Even if it’s in a far away country, now it’s news: relatively unusual, developing story - worldwide coverage and a movie. 13 kids trapped in a flooding cave? Now THAT’S some juicy news! All cameras on it! Didn’t matter that these were poor kids from Asia, unusual + ongoing beats everything else.
This submarine went into an extremely hostile environment, making it unique. It’s an ongoing story, making it more interesting. Of course it’s going to be covered, just like Apollo 13 was.
Do you know what the most recent mission to the ISS was, who is there, how they got there? I don’t, despite being somewhat interested in space - it’s not news. If they had a minor fire or leak - that’d make the news, but it has happened before and will happen again, so it wouldn’t be big. Rock hits the ISS, leaving them stranded in separate capsules not knowing the status of all crew members, with long debates whether rescue is possible? Evening news every day until they’re all rescued or all dead. Even though they’re neither rich nor famous.