Stay focused on the trivial ...

I've been reading and writing a lot about major corporate crimes and deviance. Things like defective products (which kill about 20,000 Americans every year), hazardous working conditions under companies like BP and Massey Energy (who have repeatedly killed their own employees), and Wall Street and banking fraud (which caused the collapse of the US economy).

There is a lot of information out there in the media on these crimes. And by "the media" I mean the websites of independent news organizations.

But in the mainstream press, these are some of the leading stories.

From CNN:

'We were terrified'

Passengers scramble to the decks after a 2:50 a.m. alarm warns of a fire on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship heading to the Bahamas. FULL STORY

 

From Fox:

 

 

• 'A MODEL CITIZEN':
  Ariz. Mom of 7 Thrown in Mexican Jail While on Trip

  

 

From USA TODAY:

 

Chinese baby saved from under pipe in China

 

These are each examples of "trivial stories" or news.

 

Why do such stories appear in the news, along with others about a little kid being bitten by sharks off the waters in Florida?

 

And why don't more serious stories, including those that kill and injure us and wreck our economy, don't make it?