What the Titanic submersible saga and the Greek migrant shipwreck say about our reactions to tragedy

By DAVID SHARP
Associated Press

The saga of a lost submersible that had gone into the depths of the ocean to see the Titanic wreckage rippled across the national and global conversation. But a far bigger disaster days earlier, the wrecking of a ship off Greece filled with migrants, killed at least 78 people and left a horrifying 500 missing. It didn’t become a moment-by-moment worldwide focus in anywhere near the same way. One grabbed unrelenting, moment-to-moment attention. One was watched and discussed as another sad, but routine, news story. Why? Among other things, the submersible saga had an unknown outcome, a ticking clock and was associated with a famous historical tragedy.