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The Greek shipwreck was a horrific tragedy. Yet it didn’t get the attention of the Titanic story | Arwa Mahdawi

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jun/22/the-greek-shipwreck-was-a-horrific-tragedy-yet-it-didnt-get-the-attention-of-the-titanic-story

Last week’s shipwreck in Greece is one of the worst tragedies there has ever been on the Mediterranean Sea. The coverage it received has been scant

20 comments

SpaceCadet2000

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This is such a terrible moralizing take ...

It didn't get the same attention because it had already happened, it was terrible, and nobody said otherwise, but there was no mystery or suspense about those peoples' fates. There was no ongoing story.

The Titan story is in the same vein as when workers get trapped in a mine for weeks, or like those children in a cave in Thailand. They weren't billionaires, yet the whole world still rallied behind them.

Also, to the columnist lady: you work for The fucking Guardian, if you felt that the migrant shipwreck story deserved more attention, why didn't you write about it then? I guess selling Western guilt gets more clicks huh?

1bluepixel

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Thank you.

I'd take this argument more seriously if the shipwreck wasn't ALWAYS mentioned in relation to the Oceangate story. I haven't seen a major news outlet discuss it on its own, nor do they report on other migrant tragedies ever.

Mentioning this tragedy only to make a point about media coverage is pretty shitty IMO.

randomperson

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Couldn't describe it better.

Drusas

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I would add to this that, to most people, being trapped in a lost submarine and slowly running out of oxygen in the cold, dark depths is more horrifying a prospect than drowning. Both are horrifying, but one much, much more so.

Knoll0114

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The Greek shipwreck is an unfortunately common tragedy. Whether in the Mediterranean or elsewhere migrant bodies frequently wash ashore. The Titanic story is something novel, and I think at least partially people see it as something justified for adventure tourism exclusive to the extremely wealthy to end poorly. There is nothing to really get excitement out of from the shipwreck, it's just sad.

Confuzzeled

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Totally, while it's certainly a tragedy you're right migrants are crossing and unfortunately dying quite often. It's not everyday some moron billionaire creates a ramshackle submarine and convinces other rich people to join him in his idiotic endeavour.

For what it's worth I think the public have more sympathy for migrants who die either fleeing war or trying to make a better life for themselves than for a group of uber rich thrill seekers.

dystop

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Public sympathy doesn't help, though.

5 rich people are trapped, and you have all manner of resources being deployed - the US Coast Guard + Navy, the UK Navy, Canadian navy/coast guard, research vessels and planes from all over - partially because these people have friends who are able to call up politicians and make noise in the right places.

hundreds of migrants die, and... tough luck.

Everyone deserves to live, so I'm glad the 5 men got the best rescue possible. But the same should have been done for the migrants.

Knoll0114

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To be fair there was no one tracking the migrant boat because they were crossing illegally. We knew the sub went missing basically as soon as it did rather than when people started spotting bodies. In situations where migrant boats are found before/in the midst of sinking help is sent (although after that it's probably a trip to the detention centre.)

squaresinger

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You mean, nobody except the Greek Coast Guard ship that was right next to it for a few hours? The one that attached a rope to it to tow it and potentially caused the ship to keel over?

So yeah, in that case nobody.

Knoll0114

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Guess I stand corrected then.

Hatchet

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"A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic."

I can count on one hand the number of billionaires who have died on an experimental submersible touring the wreck of the Titanic.

Nobody looked at the Titan and thought: ahh well, they signed a waiver saying they accepted death was a possibility, there’s no point saving them.

Yeah, this author has obviously never been on the Internet before.

monkeysknowledge

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I was somehow able to follow both stories. Maybe I’m special.

Guildo

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it's because rich people only care about themselves

Tarh

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Are you asking for a live stream of the ship sinking ?

dystop

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Mildly infuriating? Mildly?!

FiskFisk33

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The boat was a tragic disaster, the sub was an interesting mystery.

no fucking shit the second gets more attention.

TPMJB

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"Economic migrants on their way to illegally invade Italy capsized and everyone died :("

Oh yeah, my heart bleeds for them. And the article is rife with "Think of the children!" pearl-clutching. It's weird but maybe you should work on your own country instead of looking for handouts and not taking children on what is probably a dangerous journey.