While fucked up, it’s disinguinuous suggest that the news is blowing up only due to the fact that they’re billionaires. While large boat disasters are fairly uncommon, how often do you hear of a submarine disaster. Especially one where the inhabitants are missing but potentially on a timer - trapped in a submarine with no way to open from the inside, many peoples ultimate fear. The story writes itself, pile on what seems to be a neglectful company and you’ve got a story people are going to be invested in. I don’t think the coverage or the search and rescue would be any different if it were a scientific submarine with scientists.
The Thai cave boys are another good example. They were rural third-worlders, but it still became a sensation. It just has to be bloody and dramatic to attract attention. A story like “people on boat drown again” is too mundane, it becomes a statistic instead of a tragedy.
What’s really irksome is that these rich guys that pay people to put them weird but often already-explored places get called “explorers”.
